Merlin at Hogwarts
by weir'wyvern-85
Summary: Reincarnation fic where Merlin comes back and attends Hogwarts along with some other familiar faces. See how different Hogwarts and life there would be if the characters from Merlin were there. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MERLIN OR HARRY POTTER
1. Chapter 1

In a land of myth, and a time of magic, just after the fate of a great kingdom had been decided by a young man- Merlin_ he stood looking over the grave of a woman he had once known.

Once kind and pure hearted, he had come back to give the witch a proper burial, only to find her body slowly fading out of existence. Nevertheless, he constructed a small marker for the memory of the true Morgana- the good Morgana.

HE recognized the spell she had put on herself- a spell of reincarnation. He knew the spell, though he had never come across it, and he knew the old religion intended for him to use it, not only on himself, but on his friends as well. I Morgana was going to reappear in the world; they would need to be there to stop her plans, or- as Merlin would prefer- to keep her from changing into _that_ Morgana.

Of course, when Merlin works a spell- especially when so emotionally stressed- he sometimes puts just a little too much strength behind his spell….

* * *

"Dad, Merlin knocked my drink all over the floor!"

"Arthur!" hissed an angry voice "you're the one who threw the pillow at me while I was holding _your_ drink"

"What is going on in here?" came the stern voice of Uther Pendragon as he walked into the living room where two boy sat. One boy, fair haired, blue eyed and in good shape for an eleven year old was looking smug as he sat back on the couch where he had been watching television.

The other boy was sprawled across the floor next to an empty glass with whatever and been in the glass dripping off of him onto the wood flooring, the pillow siting between the two boys. He was a ten year old, raven haired, blue eyed, lanky, and very clumsy boy who was currently switching between annoyance at Arthur and fear of Uther.

"Well-"prompted the strict business man.

"I tripped, and spilt some juice- I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to" he said trying and failing to sit up in a more dignified manner. He knew it wasn't his fault, but if he said it was because of Arthur, it would only be worse for Merlin.

"I don't know how many times I've told you boy, to be more careful. Why that is so hard for you, I cannot begin to imagine, I want this mess cleared up NOW! And by hand!" he glared at the boy who looked down at the floor "and then you to spend the rest of the night in your room, understood?"

"Yes sir" the boy nodded numbly, knowing better than to argue.

"What about my drink?" asked Arthur looking at the younger boy pointedly and then imploringly to his father.

Uther nodded as though this made complete sense before sitting with his son on the couch " Quite right, before all of that, refill Arthur's drink and fetch one for me as well. Trying to keep in his irritated sigh, Merlin nodded and went to get the drinks. With a gold flash from his eyes, two glasses of juice poured themselves as he placed the other glass in the sink. With another flash of gold, the two glasses were in his hands, a roll of paper towels under his arms.

The young boy came back into the living room just as a raven haired girl with emerald eyes only two months older than Arthur came into the house.

"Morgana" Uther said pleasantly "How were your piano lessons?"

"Oh just perfectly boring as I tell you every day that I have them" she rolled her eyes and sat in the chair next to the couch" Merlin, did you spill something or did Arthur get you in trouble again?" she asked the boy as he mopped up the puddle, his shirt still soaking wet.

"Hey!" Arthur protested halfheartedly and Merlin turned to her with a smile "you know how clumsy I can be" she nodded din understanding, not fooled by his comment.

"You see Morgana, he admits it, stop trying to protect him from what he deserves"

"Oh yes, because he deserves to be treated like a servant in his own home" she stared down her father.

"I was kind enough to take that boy into my care, even after I found out what he is" Uther snapped back. Arthur looked on without concern as they fell into one of their usual arguments.

Merlin, however, knowing Uther being angry could only backfire for him decided to step in. "And I'm completely grateful for that and I don't mind repaying you for that in any way that I can".

Uther nodded, satisfied that the matter was resolved, spoke to the young man "that does not excuse you from your punishment, to your room."

Merlin nodded and held in his sigh until he was out of earshot.

* * *

Uther Pendragon sat in his study looking over business reports from his employees when someone knocked at his door. Not giving it much attention, he called for the person to enter.

One of the cleaning staff walked through the imposing door, carrying a stack of letters "Your post just arrived".

Uther reached out for the letters and looked at the one on the top of the stack. A heavy parchment, with no stamp, addressed to a Merlin Pendragon, listing the exact address down to the little fact that he slept on the second floor, first door on the right.

"Who would-"he stopped short as he turned the letter over to see the seal on the back of the letter. A large H surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake. With a muttered hiss that sounded like "that boy" he looked to the next letter with even more surprise.

It was an identical letter addressed to one Morgana Pendragon. He always knew it was a possibility, but to see it confirmed- "Yet another thing to drive a wedge between us" he sighed. Knowing he would have to tell her he set the letter down on top of Merlin's only to see the biggest, and worst surprise yet.

A third letter, addressed to his beloved, prized, and _normal_ son, Arthur. His son, Arthur Pendragon, was a wizard.


	2. Chapter 2

All three Pendragon siblings sat together in their living room, nervously watching Uther pace back and forth. His face was lined with a deep frown, something obviously troubling him.

When Arthur could take the silence no longer, he spoke up "Father, could you tell us why you called us down here… all at once?"

Uther jerked to a halt from his endless pacing and actually looked at the three children sitting in front of him. He let out a deep sigh and pulled three letters written on a heavy parchment from his pocket. Silently he handed them to each of their owners.

Uther watched each child's reaction as they read their letters. Merlin looked absolutely delighted by what he saw, his eyes brightening up. He looked even more happy then he did on most Christmas mornings. Morgana looked oddly smug, which only confused Uther. She seemed to have been expecting this, though, as far as he knew, she had never shown any magical talent… only those reoccurring nightmares.

Arthur however, seemed to think it was some of joke, and Uther only wished that were true. "What kind of joke is this, who sent these?" he asked annoyed.

Uther noticed Merlin's face fall as he began to believe Arthur, that it was only a joke. Morgana however looked at her brother like he was an idiot. "It's not a joke Arthur, these letters are real!".

Merlin looked confused, unsure of what to believe as his siblings continued to argue. "And what makes you so sure of that Morgana?" Arthur asked.

"Because, I saw these exact same letters in my dream last night, and I saw us getting on a train, and the biggest castle I have ever seen" she answered.

"Oh, you dreamt about it, because _that_ proves it" he rolled his eyes.

"Fine then, you just –"Morgana began before Uther cut her off.

"Stop this bickering. These letters are real Arthur, you will be attending Hogwarts… school of witchcraft and wizardry" he said having to force out the words. This school will teach you how to control your _magical_ abilities".

Smirking, Morgana stuck her tongue out at Arthur who was to stunned to notice or care. "So, so – I'm a wizard?"

"That's what he just said, really, I'm surprised your smart enough to have any magical talent" Morgana said haughtily.

"Just because I don't have any stupid dreams?" he shot back.

"You-"Morgana began.

"So, we'll be going to this school then, how do we get there, I've never even heard of it" Merlin said as he looked through the letter and supplies list for the answer, "and what about these supplies?"

"The headmaster for this _Hogwarts_ sent me a separate letter explaining how you are to get to school when term starts. As for your supplies, we are scheduled to meet one of teachers in London tomorrow so that she can assist you with that, and help you understand more about _their world_" he almost spit the words "I'll give you enough money to buy everything you need while you are with her".

"You mean you aren't coming?" asked Arthur.

"It is part of a wizarding community, it is doubtful that I would be welcome there" he said back "of course I will not be letting you go with this" he looked down at his own letter which he had been gripping in his hand since their conversation had begun "Pomona Sprout, until I am sure she is who she is who she says she is". Shaking his head at all that had happened in that single day he walked out of the room after telling the three siblings that they should get to sleep as it would be a busy day tomorrow.

Merlin looked over at his two siblings "can you believe this?"

"About you-" Arthur asked, "yeah- you've always been weird and making weird things happen. About me- not at all" he admitted quietly.

"Scared?" Morgana laughed.

"Of course not" Arthur said "I'm more worried about Merlin here, stupid as he is, he'll probably blow someone up, then I'll have to get him out of trouble"

"Pratt" Merlin muttered.

"Idiot" Arthur shot back.

"That could go for the both of you" Morgana replied before yawning " we best get some sleep like Uther said".

"Would it kill you to call him dad?" Arthur asked as they started walking toward their bedrooms. "It would mean the world to him and you know it"

"While you call him father, and Merlin calls him sir- on pain of a very long grounding I might add- I won't be a part of his stupid favorites game".

"I don't mind" Merlin tried to say.

"Whatever Merlin" Arthur cut in.

"All you want is a hug" Morgana added sleepily.

"Not true" Merlin muttered under his breath as he followed the two upstairs.

They walked up to a shabby pub at the end of the street most people seemed to be ignoring. A sign swinging above the door read "The Leakey Cauldron".

A plump, grey haired, kind looking woman stood outside the door and, when she saw them coming toward the pub, rushed up excitedly "you must be the Pendragons. It's a pleasure; my name is Pomona Sprout, Professor at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. I teach herbology as well as being head of the Hufflepuff house- something you three will learn about once you arrive. I've been asked to help you buy your supplies and to learn about the wizarding community. Usually, we have our dear Professor Burbage- the muggle studies teacher at Hogwarts- to help our students that have no nearby magical relatives that can help them. She had so many other students to tend to this year however; I volunteered to take a few of her cases, including you three".

Uther looked the woman over, as though expecting her to turn into some kind of monster, before saying "I'll be needing some proof of your identity before I leave my children with you".

"OF course" she said nodding her head "I understand perfectly" she waved a stick in the air which Merlin assumed was her wand making a large stack of documents pop into existence and float in front of Uther "On the top is a letter from the headmaster at Hogwarts verifying who I am, and what I am doing. The rest are documents of my education and my qualifications for teaching at Hogwarts" she explained as Uther looked through the documents.

Finally he nodded "This seems satisfactory" he looked at his kids and handed Morgana and Arthur each a large amount of money and turned to Merlin before giving Arthur another share fo the allowance "Keep up with your brother's money, he'd probably lose it".

"I'm not that bad" Merlin grumbled, though Uther ignored it.

"I'll be back in three hours, be good" he looked at them sternly then inclined his head to Madam Sprout before leaving.

"Well, come on then, we best get a move on" Madam Sprout said cheerfully as she ushered them into the pub and out the back where she tapped her wand on the stone wall, making it open onto a busy street full of robe clad, wand holding magic users and lined with magical stores as far as the could see "Diagon Alley" she said as they all held their mouths open wide in amazement.

"Go on in" she persuaded kindly, and Merlin took a hesitant step followed quickly by Morgana then Arthur. "We'll need to be starting at Gringotts, we have to trade in your muggle money for some of our currency".

"Muggles?" Arthur asked.

"Oh that's right, you can tell how often I'm sent to do this job" she trilled "that's what we call folk who are unable to use magic" she explained.

"How did Hogwarts know about us, I mean, Uther being a _muggle_, obviously couldn't have enrolled us" Merlin asked as they walked toward a large white building at the end of the street.

"We have a list that automatically picks up on magical children that should be enrolled per year, and no, it's never wrong" She led them up to a door and ushered them inside. The hall was longer than expected and full of short, stubby, brownish creatures with pointy features, sharp teeth, and all wearing suits.

"What are those?" Morgana asked sidestepping closer to Arthur though trying to act natural.

"Goblins" Madam Sprout said happily "the best sort of creature to have looking out for your possessions".

"Funny" Merlin mused "I thought goblins would be green, and more into making trouble… and skinnier- the money thing was right though"

"Don't let them hear you saying that, goblins are quite prideful" she warned before leading them up to one of the many goblins sitting behind a desk.

"Hello there" she said pleasantly "we'd like to exchange some muggle money" she nodded for Arthur and Morgana to give the goblin their money, they looked dubious and she added "I'll make sure you back the same value".

"One moment please" the goblin said and walked to a large vault off to the side.

"That's where they keep the muggle transfer stores" she explained.

"What's your currency like?" asked Arthur as they waited on the goblin to return.

"Well, we have three separate coins, a knut- the lowest in value, a sickle, and a galleon- the highest in value. It takes twenty-nine knuts to equal a sickle, seventeen sickles to equal a galleon, and four hundred and ninety-three knuts to equal a galleon."

At their confused expressions, she went on "It's really not that difficult, and you aren't the only ones who will be new to the wizarding world, so don't fret too much, ah, here comes your money" she said happily as the goblin came back with their wizard money in tow.

They split the money up evenly, Merlin being allowed to carry his own, and followed Madam Sprout back out into Diagon Alley. Merlin muttered under his breath as he followed the two upstairs.

very long grounding I might add- I won'y day tomorrow. have e


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, next stop better be Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions" said Madam Sprout as she led them through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. "I'm taking you there first because – other than getting your wands, this will likely be the longest stop, and we need to know how much time we have left so we don't worry your father".

The trio nodded their heads to busy staring at everything to come up with any kind of answer. Madam Sprout seemed to realize this as she stopped talking, smiling at their expressions as she led them through the street.

Merlin was trying to take in all of it as he also tried to keep up with Professor Sprout. He followed her into a store where a middle aged woman wearing brightly colored robes and an apron stood behind a desk scribbling something down furiously. She looked up at the sound of the door opening as he and his siblings walked in with a smile and stuck the pencil behind her ear.

"Madam Sprout! Touring around some new students, don't see that often" she said with good humor.

"Yes well, we seemed to have a few extra students away from the community this year" she answered in that happy tone he was getting used to hearing "They'll be needing robes of course, I have three by the way" she said placing one of her hands on Merlin's shoulder affectionately.

The seamstress nodded and waved her wand making three stools pop into existence, Merlin excited at seeing more magic smiled brightly. "Up you get if you will" the seamstress said, though she said it as a request, he felt it was more of an order.

She quickly took his and the other's measurements, made their robes, added last touches when she made them model them in front of the mirrors, and had them done in just over a half hour. Merlin was impressed by this, as well as by the robes. Not used to wearing such things, he marveled at how natural he looked wearing it when he saw his reflection. He took off the robes somewhat reluctantly and went with Arthur and Morgana to pay for their new clothes.

"That didn't take to long, especially considering she had three completely dissimilar clients" Madam Sprout said happily as she led them down the street in another direction with even more things for Merlin to gawk at. "All right, Flourish and Blotts next, to get your books".

A magical book store- he could barely keep himself from asking the older witch to walk a little faster. As it was, it did not take them to long to reach the small bookstore where they were met by the man who ran the store "Madam Sprout, a pleasure, first-years?" he asked looking down at Merlin, Arthur and Morgana.

The three of them nodded and he gave them a big, reassuring smile "Go on in, we have all the necessaries sitting out on that table in the center" he said pointing to a large table that took up the middle of the store.

Merlin led the way into the store, looking over the large bookshelves, and skimming the titles. He would have loved to spend the rest of the day in this store, but he also did not want to give Arthur anything else to tease him about. Being dragged out of a bookstore would definitely count as something he could be teased about. So, he walked to the center table, and began picking up each book that his list had specified. By the time he had collected them all, he could hardly carry them, though he noticed Arthur was having no trouble with his own load of books. Slower, now that he had more to carry, he made his way to the line to pay for the books.

He came up behind two boys who looked around the same age as he did, and carrying the same books. "We can go to Broomstix next, I know first years can't have their own brooms, but we can _look_" said the shorter of the two with dark hair that came down just over his eyes.

"Sure" nodded the boy next to him. He was larger, but still about the same age, with short blonde hair cut close to his head.

"Are you first years too?" Arthur asked as bold as ever.

The two boys turned to look at them with wide smiles "yeah we are, I can't wait to get there, my mom has always told me what a great house Gryffindor is, though dad says Ravenclaw is just as good."

Merlin was confused- Gryffindor? Ravenclaw? What were those? "You don't know about the house?" asked the taller kid and held his hand out to Arthur "I'm Perce, and this is Lance" he gestured to his friend.

"Sorry, I should have introduced myself" Lance said as his cheeks turned a pale shade of pink.

"Don't worry about it" assured Arthur "I'm Arthur Pendragon, this is Morgana and Merlin he said gesturing to them before turning back to Percy "so what are the houses?"

The two boys looked slightly stunned to hear their names and Merlin rolled his eyes- this always happened and before they could asked he answered what he knew would be going through their minds "yes that's our real names, no it was not on purpose, and yes are parents are very mean for naming us that".

This seemed to bring Lance back from whatever he had been thinking about "Uh, sorry, that just sort of caught me by surprise…you know…."

"The houses are how the students at Hogwarts are split up. You eat, dorm, and go to class with your house, which you get assigned to at the start of term. There are four altogether named after the four founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slyhterin" Perce explained.

"Do you get to decide which house you go into?" Morgana asked.

"No, there's some kind of test you go through when you arrived to sort you into the house your supposed to be in, though I don't know what kind of test" Lance answered.

"Why'd your mom say Gryffindor was the best?" asked Merlin.

"Well each founder had a certain set of qualities that they wanted in their students" Lance explained. "bravery for Gryffindor, intelligence for Ravenclaw, loyalty for Hufflepuff, and cunning for Slytherin".

"That and pure blood supremacy" Perce rolled his eyes.

"What does that mean?" Morgana asked.

"Just that they usually have mostly students who look down on muggle born witches and wizards and put way too much into "pure families" those who have no muggle blood".

"Slyhterin's out for me then" Arthur said proudly.

"Same here" Merlin added, knowing he would never be able to be a Slyhterin.

"Muggle born- that explains why you didn't know about the houses, but don't worry, most people have at least one muggle in the family tree, actually, my mom is one" Perce said.

"Both of mine" Arthur admitted.

"I don't really know, I was adopted" Merlin confessed. That was a sore spot for him. He knew that his mother at least was still alive- somewhere- but she had been young when she was pregnant, so she had decided to give him away.

Merlin was grateful that they were finally checking out, the books were starting to feel even heavier as they stood their talking. Lance and Perce both said they would see them at Hogwarts and left, and Merlin, Arthur and Morgana made their way back out to Madam Sprout. Merlin was relieved when Madam Sprout enchanted their bags to lessen the weight of their books before taking them to another set of stores to pick up their cauldrons, dragon hide gloves- which she explained they would be using In her class as well as others-, quills, parchment, ink, and their potions ingredients. By the time they had all of their things Merlin was even more grateful for her charm, because there was no way he would have been able to carry all of it without magic.

"Well that covers everything except for your wands, and we'll be finding those at Ollivander's" Madam Sprout said cheerfully as she walked on ahead of them toward a small dark shop. A small bell tingled as they stepped into the shop, and a moment later a tall man with white hair that stood all over his head came to the front of the store.

"Hello there" he said looking the three siblings over "first years…let's see" he focused on Arthur for a moment then disappeared into his jungle of shelves and reappearing a moment later. Holding out a wand to Arthur the man said simply "give it a wave".

Arthur did just as he was told, only to have a set of red and gold fireworks explode merrily from the tip. The man who Merlin assumed was Ollivander smiled brightly "As I thought" then turned to Madam Sprout "and I have little doubt about where this one will sorted".

She shrugged good naturedly with a happy smile "can't have them all".

"That wand, my boy, is a twelve inch sycamore with a core of dragon heartstring. It's very good for defence".

"Now you my dear," he said looking to Morgana "more tricky" he grabbed a few different wands from different places around his shelves and came over to her and held one out "try it out".

She waved hers in the way Arthur had, though with less suitable results. It let out a drizzle of sparks that fell lifelessly to the floor in a depressing way. Merlin had to hold in a snort of laughter as the wand-maker replaced that wand with another.

This one, when she waved it, causes an avalanche of other wands and the bookshelves to topple dangerously, though none fell over. He once again replaced the wand she held for one of the others in his hand.

For a third time Morgana waved a wand, this time sending a warm summer breeze through the musty store, clearing the air for only a moment before the dust returned. "Hmm… ten inch, Kelpie hair, Rowan, not bad for charms" he said approvingly before turning to an excited Merlin "your turn my boy".

He spent more time than he had with the others looking at Merlin, as though not seeing something that should be there, letting out confused grunts every few seconds. Shaking his head, he took the boy by the shoulder and guided him to the start of an aisle of book shelves. "Walk through, when you feel something, test the wand that gives you the strongest feeling".

" Mr. Ollivander?" asked Madam Sprout.

"I have no idea what wand would be best suited for that boy, he could do well with any of them really".

"Any of them?" she asked surprised.

"If it did not previously have a master, he could make it follow him, he has a strong spirit".

Merlin was not really paying attention to what was being said about him, instead he was trying to listen to himself, trying to find the feeling Ollivander had been talking about. Every few feet, he would stop and send his magic out to probe different wands, seeing how they would react. Finally, in the middle of the aisle, one wand reacted, sending back a warm pulse of magic that seemed to respond to his own. Slowly he reached out his hand, eyes closed, letting his magic guide him to the wand. His hand curled around the handle of wand that sent a pleasant wave of warmth into him, his lips curving up into a smile.

With a single wave, the mess Morgana had created earlier righted itself, and the warm wind came back, stronger and longer lasting then before.

"Ivy… with a core of kneazle whiskers?" Ollivander said taking the wand into his own hands and stroking the wood, "I never would have guessed…" he looked up to Madam Sprout "he'd do well in Hufflepuff my dear Professor" he said as he led the boy back to the front of the store "of course he seems full of surprises".

They paid and left after that and went back to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron "Well, you've gotten all you need, your father has been informed about your travel method to school. You are allowed to have one of three types of pets at Hogwarts; however you shall have to speak to your father about that. If you have any more questions or concerns, you can write a letter and owl it to me. If you do not have your own owl, Tom, the owner here, will gladly lend you his, or there is a post office in Diagon Alley, though I suggest you not travel by yourselves. And sadly we do not permit many muggles entrance. Your father is waiting just outside of the pub and I must be off" she said and opened the archway before disappearing from where she stood.

Morgana was the first to come to, and she pulled Merlin and Arthur into the pub with her. The pub had become decidedly more crowded, including the figure of a giant hairy man.

Next to the giant of a man, Merlin noticed, was a young boy with messy black hair and glasses that kept having his hand shaken as though he were some type of celebrity. The boy looked just as confused about his own importance as Merlin felt, and was obviously uncomfortable.

"Come on" Morgana snapped, obviously uninterested in what was going on in the pub, as she pushed through the crowd. Merlin's eye however, had just caught that of a man with pale skin, a thin frame, and a large purple turban sitting on his head. He wore an expression of shy, jumpiness, that seemed to Merlin, fake. He felt something… strange about the man. He continued to hold the man's eye until Arthur pulled him out of the pub and back into the muggle world.


	4. Chapter 4

Their car pulled into the parking lot of King's Cross station, Merlin growing more and more excited. It hardly bothered him when Uther helped Morgana carry in her trunk, or that Arthur did not spare him a glance when it was obvious the heavy object was just a little more than Merlin could handle.

He also did not let it affect him when Uther brought both Morgana and Arthur a cart to put their trunks onto, while conveniently not having been able to find Merlin one. He did not let it bother him, because he knew he was about to get away from Uther for almost six months, and nothing could ruin that.

He walked behind his family, slowed down by the weight of his trunk, though preferring to act as though he were in no way related to Uther. They made it to the specified column between stations nine and ten, and Uther handed them each their own tickets. He watched as Uther pulled Morgana into a hug and said goodbye, how she recoiled slightly- though not enough to alert Uther to it. He watched as she casually strolled right into the wall and out of sight.

He watched as Uther and Arthur embraced lightly then shook one another's hands before Arthur disappeared just as Morgana had done before him. Father and son's show of affection, though visibly less than father and daughter's was more heartfelt, and even more difficult for Merlin to watch.

Starting forward, not expecting any semblance of a good-bye from Uther, Merlin was surprised when his father caught his arm and jerked him around to face him. At first, Merlin was sure Uther was going to give some awkward speech about him not being too much of an idiot- and maybe showing some kind of emotion towards him, but of course he was wrong.

Uther's face was frightening to say the least. Merlin wanted nothing more than to jerk away and run through the barrier that Uther would never cross. His father's grip however, was far too strong for any hope of breaking away.

"Listen here" he hissed pushing his face close to Merlin's "I've always known what you were, there was no mistaking it. I kept you anyway, because that is what Ygraine wanted. I kept you, but I never would have if I realized your _magic_" he hissed the word "would spread to my _real_ children. Everything was normal until you showed up, then, from day one, things would randomly float around you, things would grow hot or cold, they would disappear and reappear, Morgana had trouble sleeping… everything changed, but they were still my kids"

"What I'm getting at is, you changed them, and if this school which you got them enrolled in changes them to the point that they aren't my children anymore- you _will _regret it" he shoved Merlin away from him, nearly making him trip. He stalked away, leaving the boy behind speechless, close to tears until a nice plump woman with red hair came up to him. She took him by the shoulders and made him turn to face her. He knew she could see the unshed tears in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

"Are you alright? Who was that?" she asked fiercely.

Merlin nodded his head that he was okay, but he didn't talk, he couldn't, not yet. He had always known Uther did not like him, but it was worse than he thought, the man hated him, and blamed him for things he had no control over. He felt the woman pull him into a hug and slowly run her hand through his hair, calming him down.

When he noticed the other red headed kids standing around him, he pushed away from the kind woman "Sorry about that, it's nothing to worry about".

She looked like she was about to argue when another boy came up to them also carrying a trunk as well as an owl cage. He looked lost and asked how to get onto the train. The plump woman- witch now that Merlin realized all the kids were going to Hogwarts- smiled brightly.

She told him that her son Ron was also a first year and said it was his first time getting on the train as well before turning back to Merlin "are you a first year too?"

"Yeah, my brother and sister are already on the other side" he answered.

"Well, you can go in with my boys then, you can meet them on the train…what's your name?" she asked kindly.

Blushing slightly he answered "Merlin" her eyebrows raised slightly but she didn't say anything, the two twins behind her were a different story however.

"Merlin? A powerful wizard like you shouldn't let a muggle pick on you like that" said one.

"Yeah, your way to out of his league for that".

"Now that's enough, you all need to get onto the train, you can go in with Percy" she told Merlin. He nodded and walked in with yet another red headed boy. On the other side of the barrier he was tackled into a fierce hug.

"What happened? What took you so long?" Arthur and Morgana asked as Percy looked on, Fred and George coming up behind him. He could see the twins were about to tell the whole story so he jumped in before they had the chance.

"Uther wanted to say bye, I wasn't expecting it and then I ran into another wizarding family, they're really nice" he said with his normal goofy grin- or at least he assumed it was normal as Arthur and Morgana did not seem to notice anything.

"See- he's not that bad, I don't know why you complain about him not liking you" the twins looked outraged by this comment but were cut off from what they were going to say when the plump witch came up behind them.

"Are these your brother and sister Merlin?" she asked.

"Yeah, Arthur and Morgana" he said shyly. The entire family as well as the dark haired boy looked at them incredulously making Merlin add "that _is_ our real names".

"I just realized we didn't introduce ourselves" she said "I'm Molly Weasly, this is my son Percy" she pointed to the one who Merlin had come through the barrier with "Fred and George" she pointed to the twins who pointed to each other as if to say she had called them by the wrong names "and my youngest son Ron, and my daughter Ginny…and I didn't catch your name either dear" said turning to the boy with glasses.

"Harry Potter" he said just as shyly as Merlin had said his own.

"Oh, my" Mrs. Weasly breathed.

Cheeks flaming Harry quickly said "I really appreciate your help getting onto the platform" before going to board the train. Merlin looked at his siblings both of whom looked just as confused.

"Thank you for helping Merlin ma'am" Arthur said politely before making his own way to the train, Morgana trailing behind him.

Merlin looked at the family of red heads and asked "could you please not tell them what you saw? They still think Uther is a good man, and to them, he is. I really don't want to tear that apart for them".

"Oh, my dear… we won't tell, but if he ever hits you, or abuses you in any way, I'll do my best to see that you are safe"

Merlin was touched by the sincerity in the woman's voice "Thank you" he said before going after his two siblings.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin followed Arthur and Morgana onto the train and down the aisle to near the middle of the train where a girl with wavy black hair and beautiful dark skin sat alone. Morgana opened the door to the compartment and stuck her head inside "can we sit here?"

The girl looked up at them with a bright smile "of course, I was starting to worry everyone was avoiding this compartment" she giggled nervously as Morgana sat down across from her and Merlin beside her with Arthur across from him. "My name's Guinevere by the way, everyone calls me Gwen".

The three siblings looked at one another, the first time _they _ were surprised by someone's name. "I'm Morgana Pendragon"

"I'm Arthur Pendragon"

"I'm Merlin" he saw her eyes widen and then narrow distrustfully.

"Are you making fun of me?" she asked.

"No, that's our names" Morgana rushed to say. "I know it's weird, but it's not like we chose them".

Gwen sighed in relief "I know what you mean, Guinevere isn't exactly normal either, of course mine can be shortened".

"Hey, your name fits in with ours" Merlin said cheerily.

"Your right, what are the chances?" she giggled. Merlin noticed that she was quick to open up to them, not that she was overly trusting, just that she was friendly. He was glad; they could just as easily have asked to sit with some jerk.

"So, do you know anything about Hogwarts?" Arthur asked.

"Only what my father's told me, my mother's a muggle. She was really happy that my brother and I had magic. She had always believed in magic before she met my father, and it was a dream come true for her".

"What house was your father in?" asked Morgana.

"He was in Hufflepuff. He said he really enjoyed it even though the other houses would always make fun of them. I'm not sure why though, Helga Hufflepuff was just as powerful and important as the other founders, she was just less strict on who she would teach, she felt everyone had the right to learn magic".

"Do you think you'll be in Hufflepuff?" Morgana asked again.

"I'd like to be, just to prove that it is just as good a house as the others" she smiled "what about you three- I'm assuming your related?".

"Yeah- it's a bit of a long story, but we all live together" Morgana said, "as to what house our parents were in, we live with muggles".

"Well that's okay" Gwen shrugged "which house do you _want_ to be in?"

"Gryffindor" Arthur said at once "it sounds like the most noble"

"It sounds like you have a big head" amended Morgana and Gwen had to stifle her giggles "I think I would like to be in Ravenclaw- though Hufflepuff doesn't sound so bad either" Gwen smiled at this then looked over to Merlin.

"What about you Merlin?"

He looked out the window- he was not sure which house he would prefer, they all had redeeming qualities, except perhaps Slytherin. So finally, unsure of what else to say he told then "so long as I am not in Slytherin".

Gwen nodded "I don't know what I'd do if I was placed in Slytherin… drop out probably"

"Are they really that bad?" Morgana asked

"Not all of them, I'm sure. And anyone can be rude and horrible, but Slytherin has the reputation of putting out the darkest wizards of any house".

"Not all of them though?"

"No, of course not, anyone could go dark, that's just the reputation Slytherin has obtained"

"Did I hear someone say Slytherin?" asked the drawling voice a blonde headed boy standing in the doorway of their compartment, behind him, and older looking girl with loosely curled blonde hair.

"You might have not if you weren't eavesdropping" Arthur responded angrily. Merlin wasn't sure why Arthur had been so rude, or why he agreed with him, something about the two people standing in the doorway put him on guard, and apparently Arthur as well.

"I can't help how loud you were being" the boy shot back at Arthur "anyway, I'm Draco Malfoy- and I for one can tell you right now that _I'm _going to be in Slytherin"

"Good for you, I won't be seeing you there" Arthur said dismissively.

"How dare you talk to me that way, I'll bet you're a muggle born aren't you?"

Arthur stood and faced the pale haired boy "and if I am?"

"Shut up Draco, it's not wise to make enemies on your first day, we aren't even at school yet" the blonde witch rolled her eyes, "my name's Morgouse Malfoy. I'm a third year Slytherin, and the reason we stopped is because you shouldn't talk about things you don't understand. Slytherin might have produced a bunch of dark wizards, but it is still a respectable house, and I won't have any first years talking bad about it. IF you get sorted into the house you'll thank me for this warning- we are fiercely loyal to our house, and it's members" here she turned her gaze onto Morgana "you never know where you're going to get sorted" she then turned her attention to the rest of the compartment "I suggest you wait until you know a bit more before you start bad mouthing my house again" With that she stormed out of the compartment, Draco following after sending a sneer over his shoulder.

After a long moment of silence Merlin decided to break the tension "well that was intimidating"

"That's the Malfoy's for you, they're one of the oldest of the pure blood families, and they want everyone to know it" Gwen said somberly.

"I'm still pretty sure I don't want to be in that house" Arthur said proudly. Gwen nodded her agreement and Merlin couldn't help but do the same. He could hardly stand the thought of being around the Draco boy for more than two minutes, but Morgouse would be a nightmare- a very frightening nightmare.

"Gwen, there's something else I've been meaning to ask" Merlin started "I was wondering if you know who Harry Potter is?"

"Of course I know who he is- muggle born of course, sorry, where did you hear his name?" Gwen rambled.

"We actually met him when he we were getting onto the platform" Merlin admitted.

"You met him?!" she said stunned "and you didn't even know who he was- he's only the most famous wizard in our world right now"

"He's only a first year like us- how can he be so famous?" asked Arthur as though he had been cheated out of an award.

"I assume since you don't know about Harry Potter- you don't know about He-who-must-not-be-named?" At their blank looks Gwen nodded and sighed. "We don't say his name, it still strikes fear into those who hear it- he was the darkest wizard there ever was… he killed so many people, he tore our world into a terrible war" she was shaking just talking about it.

"You should know the name- I really don't want to say it, but- you should know. No one says it, ever- it's always you-know-who or He-who-must-not-be-named" her voice was starting to quake as she prepared to say the name that obviously terrified her she leaned her head in close to the others, wanting to say it as quietly as possible "Lord Voldemort".

That name, Merlin had heard it before, though he couldn't remember where until Arthur gasped and sat back in his seat. "I know that name- that's the serial killer that killed mum"

Arthur's face was ghostly pale, and Morgana looked green. They had only known about their connection to the wizarding world for a month at the most, yet it had already impacted their lives so greatly- and so destructively.

"He killed just as many muggles as he did those with magic, and more than anyone else- muggle-borns. He treated that like his mission, to cleanse the wizarding world. So he killed everyone he found unworthy- some he just killed for fun for years, until ten years ago"

Merlin could see the anticipation to hear the end of the story on Arthur and Morgana's faces and knew that they mirrored his own. "For whatever reason, you-know-who decided he was going to kill the Potter's- a married couple- along with their one year old son- Harry. They went into hiding, but it wasn't enough, he still found them, he burst into their home and killed both parents. Then he went to finish Harry, but somehow, his killing curse- an undeflectable, deadly curse sent onto a one year old child, was deflected and sent back onto him"

"He's dead then?" Arthur asked hopeful that his mother's murderer had been destroyed.

"There's controversy- some say he will never come back- other's that he didn't truly die, that he's little more than a ghost, hiding until he can regain a body and his powers so that he can continue with his mission"

There was nothing any of them could say after that, nothing that could breech the silence and the tension the story had caused, nothing except a bushy haired girl with a bossy attitude pushing her way into their compartment.

"Have any of you seen a toad, a boy named Neville has lost one" she looked around at the pale starring faces "did I interrupt something?"

Morgana was the first to snap out of it replying "no, and sorry, but we haven't seen a toad"

"I figured" the girl admitted, "he was so pitiful I had to help, he got the toad from his gran and apparently she'll skin 'em if he loses it- or according to him anyways. I'm Hermione Granger by the way"

"Morgana Pendragon" she said back then noticing her siblings still looked to out of to talk continued with "and these are my brothers Arthur and Merlin".

"I'm Guinevere Coote- everyone calls me Gwen" she said pleasantly.

"It's a pleasure, and you should probably change into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon" she said before sweeping out of the compartment and leaving the four friends to get ready for their arrival at Hogwarts.


	6. Chapter 6

The train jolted slightly as it came to a stop, and Merlin was at the door before the others had even stood up. The only thing stopping Merlin from running on ahead was Arthur's hand on his robes "wait for us idiot" he said.

"Hurry up prat" Merlin shot back as he continued to try and get out of the compartment to the two girls amusement.

"We'll get to spend quite a bit of time here Merlin, you can wait a minute more" Gwen said humorously.

"I want to see it" he whined as Arthur finally let him out into the hall, though still holding onto his shoulder so that he did not leave them behind.

Merlin stopped trying to fight off Arthur's hand now that they were in the hallway, they were finally moving forward. When they stepped down onto the platform, the first thing Merlin noticed was the giant man he had seen from the pub- or at least he thought it was the same one, there couldn't be that many men as big as him.

"Firs' year's ove' here" the man called out swinging a lantern in one of his large hands "firs' years, this way".

"Hagrid!" yelled the boy Merlin now knew as Harry Potter. Now that he knew the story behind the boy, he tried to see if there was anything he had missed from the few times he had seen him that would suggest he could take on the darkest wizard ever, and survive.

He looked underfed skinny, small, and not like someone who could take on a fly let alone a magical serial killer. Perhaps that was just how the magical world was though, things being not as they seemed. A small boy having the power to take on that much power- or maybe it was a fluke.

"How's It goin' Harry?" asked Hagrid happily.

"Whoa" Morgana muttered and Arthur and Gwen seemed to agree.

"Hi" Merlin said, to the man whose name he assumed to be Hagrid, with a small wave.

"You ready for Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked him kindly.

"Yeah, I'm really excited" he said happily and Hagrid grinned down at him. He could see Hagrid loved Hogwarts and anyone who felt similarly.

"Well, if tha's all o' yeh, righ' this way" he said to the first years gathered around him, leading them to the bank of a large lake with a dozen boats scattered around, waiting to be boarded. "Four to a boat an' don' worry, they'll drive themse'ves" he sniggered slightly at some of the kids awestricken faces.

Morgana, Arthur, Gwen and Merlin all piled into one boat, and as soon as they had all sat down, the small wooden ship jolted to life and slid itself into the dark water. Ripples swept past the prow as the boat made its way through the water, seemingly following the one in the lead that held Hagrid on its deck. As they slowly made their way past the trees, a great building with beautiful towers and glowing lights came into view directly ahead and directly below as the dark waters mirrored the castle and all of its wonder. From all around him, Merlin heard gasps as the other first years took in the sight of Hogwarts for the first time. Merlin knew, as they grew steadily closer, he would never forget that moment.

The ride was over to soon when the boats docked themselves onto shore and Hagrid led them into the beautiful castle they had just seen on the lake surface. He led them to a set of doors behind which Merlin could hear the sound of laughter and dozens of different conversations all at once. The rest of the school was likely waiting behind those doors.

His attention was pulled away from these thoughts when a black haired witch came out to greet them. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, yur triumphs will earn you House points, while any rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to which ever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly" she said before stepping out of the hall.

It was not a moment after McGonagall had stepped out of the hall for Draco Malfoy, the boy from the train to stride up in front of the rest of the group and pompously declare "Well, I know what house I'll be in. My whole family has been in it, Slytherin!" he boasted.

"Stay clear of that house then?" Arthur asked loudly. Merlin had a fierce desired to face palm then and there, the stupid prat had to go and make things worse.

"And I'll bet you'll be in Gryffindor, you seem the type" he sneered, taking what Merlin thought was supposed to be a menacing step forward, though it did nothing to upset Arthur.

"Come on now" Lance the boy from the bookshop moved in between the two blondes "it is just an honor to be here, we should be happy with whichever house we are sorted into".

"Quite well stated, Mr. Kirke" Lance blushed slightly when he turned around to see McGonagall standing behind him "now, if you'll follow me" she said walking into the Great Hall.

They were paraded between the center of four long tables of students up to a stool upon which sat an old beat up hat. "When I call your name, come up to the stool and place the hat on your head" McGonagall instructed.

Taking out a list, she began to call out names and students did as she said, the old hat coming to life for each student and calling out one of the four house names.

Belby, Gwaine" a young man with shoulder length hair and a mischievous smile went up and sat on the stool the old hat coming over his eyes, though not enough to cover that smile that clearly said he would prank you given the chance.

"GRYFFINDOR" the hat split in the middle revealing its mouth screaming out the boy's house. The Gryffindor's clapped furiously as the boy sauntered over to take a seat with his new house.

"Coote, Elyan" a boy that looked remarkably like Gwen walked up to the stool only to have the hat call out "RAVENCLAW"

"Coote, Guinevere"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"Graham, Percival"

"RAVENCLAW"

"Kirke, Lancelot"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"Wolpert, Leon"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"Pendragon, Arthur" at this name, the crowd of students began to giggle and snort with laughter, the thought of someone naming their son that- Merlin couldn't wait until they had heard his name.

The hat had hardly brushed the top of his head when it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR"

"Pendragon, Merlin" as he had thought, the laughter was louder and he could even hear catcalls coming from the Slytherin side of the room- not to surprising really. As the hat was placed upon his head, he felt the presence of another mind next to his and suddenly the sound of another voice.

_"Interesting, your mind is quite something. You will go far in life no matter where I place you- but I can't decide. It has been many years since I was unable to decide where to put a student. Where would you prefer Merlin?_

"Not Slytherin, I don't think they would like me over there very much, and I'm not one for judging someone on their parentage. Ravenclaw- I'm not sure I'm smart enough to be in that house, not that I'm stupid… Hufflepuff wouldn't be bad, but I really don't need any help with getting picked on…"

"_And Gryffindor, what are its faults?"_ the hat asked.

"Well, I really don't want to grow a big head…"

The hat chuckled and opened its mouth "GRYFFINDOR" then whispered inside of Merlin's mind again _careful of the size of that head of yours_".

Merlin walked over to sit next to Arthur who had taken a seat next to the boy named Gwaine.

"Pendragon, Morgana" at her name the room went quiet. Morgana however did not let this bother her and walked purposefully to the stool and the hat. Like Arthur the hat had barely touched her head when it screamed out its judgement.

"SLYTHERIN" the green table clapped as their newest member walked over and took a seat between Draco and Morgouse Malfoy, seemingly happy about where she had been placed. Merlin and Arthur sent each other worried glances, but there was nothing they could do. Morgana had been placed in the house that had the reputation for training the darkest wizards that had ever come from Hogwarts.


	7. Chapter 7

Hogwarts, Merlin quickly figured out, was a very large castle, with many doors, secret passages, and moving staircases. The new Gryffindor students, including him were slowly learning their way around the castle- and they were quickly learning to _never_ to trust Peeves.

They also learnt that a school of magic did not just teach spells and wand movements- of course there was plenty of that. They also studied astronomy every Wednesday at Midnight. They spent three times a week with Madam Sprout in the Herbology greenhouses, Professor Sprout always making sure Merlin and Arthur were adapting well to the school in a motherly way telling them "you can always come to me if you have any problems".

Then, to most students dismay- not including the bright Hermione Granger, was history of magic with their ghost teacher Professor Binns. The most boring class that Merlin had ever took did not even compare to the torture he was put through during each lecture given by the old ghost. He did however, find quite a bit of time to catch up on any missed sleep.

Charms, however was one of those classes where you did learn to wave your wand a wave a spell. Being a first year though, kept them from doing much during their first lessons, instead being forced to focus on the basics. Merlin kept hope however, that they would eventually move on to something more exciting.

Professor McGonagall's class however, was hardly a disappointment. As strict as the older woman was, she knew what she was teaching, and she knew how to teach. Merlin could tell he would learn a lot from this class even if he did have to start with switching a match into a needle. Muggles, after all, could not even do that much, and neither could most of his class.

When they arrived for their first Transfiguration class, she proved exactly how strict she was with her first words to the class. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She then lightened the mood by turning her desk into a large pig and back again. Gwaine, who Arthur and Merlin had become fast friends with, looked very excited about learning that spell. A look came into his eyes that seemed to say _the trouble I could get into with that spell…_ Merlin felt it would be best if Gwaine missed class the day she went over that specific day.

McGonagall then passed out a single match to each student "For now, you will be learning the basics- starting with turning a match into a needle" she showed them how they were to perform the spell and assigned them the rest of the class period to try their best.

Throughout the class period, you could hear the frustrated sounds of the same spell being repeated over and over. By the end of the block, only two students had successfully transformed their matches- Hermione and Merlin, who each received five points for their House. Merlin was congratulated by his friends and was sure this had to be one of the best days in his life.

Defense against the Dark Arts however, was a bit of a letdown for Merlin. He had assumed they would get into dark creatures and see spells, not work out of the book, or listen to lecture full of stuttering and apologies for no good reason. The room smelled like Garlic- which Fred and George had said was supposed to keep away a certain vampire Quirrell had apparently angered- though Merlin could not see how the man could possibly anger a vampire and come out of the encounter with his head. That turban also bothered Merlin, every time the back of it faced him, the hair on the back of his neck would rise and he would begin to go into a cold sweat and feel as though someone were watching him, then Quirrell would turn and he would be sure it was all in imagination until the turban faced him again.

When Friday came around, most of the students were ready for the weekend which they talked about over breakfast.

"I can't wait to explore the castle, I bet there's a tone of secret passageways" Gwaine was saying to Merlin and Arthur who were barely paying attention.

"You've got that right", one of the Weasly twins said sitting down across from Gwaine.

"And we could show you a few" added the other twin as he sat down next to his brother.

"What do I have to do?" Gwaine asked having caught on.

"Prove your worth as a competent prankster" answered Lee Jordan as he sat down next to Gwaine.

An evil smile spread across the boy's face and he answered "I can do that"

"That can't be good" Ron mused as the four pranksters put their heads together and started whispering.

"We should probably be careful for a while" Arthur agreed as Harry and Merlin laughed. The four boys had become friends during their stay at Hogwarts as brief as it still was.

A snowy white owl swooped out of the air and landed in front of Harry dropping a letter addressed from Hagrid.

"Hagrid's asked me to visit him after today's lessons" he told his friends "want to come?" They all agreed and Harry scribbled down a response and gave the letter back to Hedwig who flew back out of the window.

"What do we have today?" Arthur asked.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins" Merlin responded.

"Snape's head of their house, and he's said to favor them" Ron warned as they all finished their breakfast.

"Best not to be late then" Harry said standing with others. They made their way to the dungeons where Professor Snape taught his classes.

"Nice place" Gwaine commented. The others chuckled until a voice cut them off.

"Merlin! Arthur!" a Slytherin girl ran up to the two brothers.

"My heart's stopped" Gwaine said, dramatically clutching his chest.

"That's my sister" Arthur warned and Gwaine just grinned.

"Morgana" Merlin greeted her. She pulled them both into a hug.

"Isn't this amazing?" she asked excitedly, she had not had the chance to talk to them since they had been sorted.

"It's wonderful" Merlin agreed.

"Unbelievable" Arthur added, and she smiled brightly at the both of them.

"We had better go in, Professor Snape can be kind of strict" she said and led the group into the classroom which was full except for them. Morgana waved and went to sit at a table of Slytherins. Harry and Ron took a desk for themselves, leaving Merlin, Arthur, and Gwaine at their own table.

The hook nosed professor began class by calling roll, looking up when he reached the Pendragon children's names and then speaking when he reached Harry's name "Harry Potter, our new _celebrity_".

Merlin heard a few laughs that sounded like the three they had met on the train.

When Snape had finished, he addressed the class "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand waving in my class, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly shimmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach".

"Potter" Snape snapped suddenly "What would I get if added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"I don't know sir" Harry admitted as Hermione's hand hung in the air, answer on her lips.

"Tut, tut- fame clearly isn't everything" Snape sneered "let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know sir" Harry said again. Hermione's hand was still waving slightly in the air.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Merlin rolled his eyes at this comment. He had looked through all of his books before school had started and he couldn't answer these questions.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know. I think Hermione does though, why don't you give her a try?" Merlin snorted then ducked his head as Snape's gaze turned murderous.

"Sit down" he snapped at Hermione who had stood up in trying to get noticed "For your information Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying this down?"

Snape then set them into groups of two or three to brew a simple potion to cure boils. He criticized almost everyone except for Morgana and Malfoy who had been working together. He was just complementing them when Merlin's voice rang out in the dungeon "Neville, No!" just before a cloud of green smoke filled the room.

Merlin felt the familiar heat behind his eyes that meant they had turned gold and saw as everything in the room slowed down. Not stopping to wonder how or why it happened, Merlin used his extra time to rush over to Neville and pulled him away from his seat just as time went back to its normal pace.

The potion Neville and Seamus were brewing had melted through the cauldron and spilt all over where Neville had been just seconds before. The rest of the class backed away from the hissing potion as it ate away at the floor.

"Idiot boy" Snape yelled at Neville who was leaning heavily on Merlin from fear of what that potion could have done, and of what Snape would do to him now "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire" Neville nodded weakly and Snape waved his wand making the potion evaporate "Pendragon, back to your seat, five points from Gryffindor for disrupting my class".

"Of course Professor" Merlin said quickly before Arthur, Gwaine or even Harry or Ron could argue with Snape's ruling, it would only make matters worse, something he knew from his time with Uther. He quickly took his seat next to a fuming Arthur and Gwaine and waited impatiently for class to end.

When three thirty finally came along, Gwaine made his way off to find the Weasly twins, muttering something about adding porcupine quills to a Slytherin. Harry, Ron, Arthur, and Merlin made their own way down to Hagrid's small hut. Knocking on the door, Harry and Ron took a step back at the sound of a large dog barking.

_"Back _Fang-_Back_" they heard Hagrid saying as he opened the door for them to come in as he held back a large, black boarhound "Come on in".

When the door was shut, Hagrid let Fang lose who went immediately to Merlin's side demanding him to pet the dog, which he did, cooing a small "Hello there".

"Hey Hagrid" Harry said with a bright smile "I brought some friends".

"I see, it looks like Fang's took ter one o' 'em already" he laughed as the dog drooled all over a smiling Merlin. He then turned to Ron "A Weasly eh?" he asked "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest".

Sheepishly, the red head answered "I'm Ron".

"I'm Arthur- and that's Merlin" Arthur introduced pointing at his adopted brother.

"Arthur and Merlin" Hagrid asked smiling "those are some names to live up to"

"We know" Arthur sighed.

"I'm really pretty sure I was named after the bird, not the wizard" Merlin said from where he was scratching Fang's stomach. "And we have a sister named Morgana" Hagrid laughed at that, and laughed harder when he learned that she had been sorted into Slytherin.

"An' if I'm not mistaken, there's another couple'a kids named fer the round table up at the castle?"

Merlin and Arthur nodded sheepishly.

"So, how's yer firs' week at Hogwarts been?"

The four boys told Hagrid about their classes and Harry told him about how he thought Snape hated him.

"Tha's ridiculous. He's jus' a bit harsh on all the studen's" Hagrid said kindly. Harry let the subject drop, but he did not look convinced.

"So Ron, how's yer brother Charlie- he was a good student, great with animals".

Ron told Hagrid about his brother working in with dragons in Romania ("I've always wanted a dragon" Hagrid had mused). Merlin noticed Harry's eyes widen as he looked at a newspaper on Hagrid's table, though Merlin couldn't read what it said.

He was quiet after that and as they walked back to the castle, Harry seemed like he wanted to tell Ron something, but he didn't want to say it in front of Merlin and Arthur. Curious, but not enough to spy on them, the four boys split up, Harry and Ron going one way, and Merlin and Arthur the other.


	8. Chapter 8

"Arthur, wake up" Merlin said throwing his pillow at his snoring brother.

"Whatdoyouwant?" he moaned, head still smothered in his own pillow. If his stomach hadn't been growling, he probably would have found it a funny sight.

"C'mon, I want to get some breakfast" he moaned back, tossing his other pillow at Gwaine who was still in his own bed. "You too, wakey, wakey" he mocked.

"Merlin, mate, anyone ever told you it's healthy to sleep in some times?" Gwaine asked groggily.

"No" he admitted bluntly, he was ready to drag the two boys out of bed and down the stairs to the great hall, wishing he knew the charm Madam Sprout had used on their shopping bags in Diagon Alley.

"Well pretend they had and we'll all take a day for our health" Gwaine suggested rolling over onto his other side, away from Merlin.

"C'mon you two, I want to eat" he whined.

"Go on then" Arthur snapped.

"If I leave you, you'll be late" he huffed, annoyed at their behavior, and was it really necessary to do this _every_ morning. Needless to say, they were never the first to make it into the Great Hall.

Sighing, Gwaine sat up, saying as he started to get dressed "you're a good friend Merlin".

"Too good" Arthur said doing the same.

Merlin smirked as they finally walked down the steps to find a group of people gathered around the notice board "what's going on?"

"Flying lessons start Thursday at three thirty" Harry replied making his way out of the crowd, Ron right behind him.

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Arthur as Gwaine yawned.

"It's with the Slytherins" Ron answered glumly. The other three nodded in understanding. The Slytherins had no love for them, or for anyone else in Gryffindor. Even Morgana, though Merlin didn't like to admit it, seemed farther away then she used to, Arthur of course denied it altogether.

Silently accepting it as something that was beyond their power to change, the five boys made their way down to the Great Hall for the breakfast Merlin had been craving for so long now. Of course things could only get worse from there.

Fred, George, and Lee seemed to have let Gwaine become a part of their plans, though he would not tell what he had done to be accepted. He would only say that he wanted as few loose ends as possible.

Merlin was just asking Arthur if he had done his homework for Charms when Neville's voice cut into their conversation "It's a remembrall, my Gran knows I'm always forgetting something".

Neville sat a few seats down the table, holding a clear sphere filled with a white smoke that was quickly turning red. "I can't remember what I've forgotten".

Merlin chuckled- it was so Neville- until Malfoy came up and snatched the small object out of the boy's hands. Merlin quickly put a restraining hand on Arthur's arm to keep him from getting involved until McGonagall took care of it, scaring Malfoy away.

Arthur sighed and visibly relaxed "Git".

"He's not worth it" Merlin said, trying to calm him down.

"As long as he leaves you alone" Arthur said protectively.

Merlin's eyebrow rose as he said mockingly "Never knew you cared"

"I don't, I just can't let him get away with picking on _my_ weakling" he taunted.

"Don't worry Merlin, I'm confident enough in my masculinity to admit you're my friend and to hex that git for that exact reason" Gwaine said, butting into their conversation then added with a conspiratorial smile "_if _the need arises".

"_If_" Merlin and Arthur laughed as Gwaine smiled and turned back to Fred and George.

Three thirty that evening, the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years stood lined up in the Quidditch pitch. Madam Hooch told everyone to stand by a broomstick.

When they all had their own broom she began talking "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'UP'".

"UP!" everyone shouted with few good results, Harry and Merlin's being two of the few- and surprisingly to Merlin, Gwaine's- to actually jump right into their hands. Arthur frowned and used his 'I'm-the-boss-now-obey' voice and the broom flew right to him. Morgana, Merlin noticed, had to try a few more times before it flew to her, though still less than for Hermione.

Madam Hooch then demonstrated how to correctly mount their brooms without sliding off. Again- Gwaine did perfectly then shrugged at his friend's confusion with another lazy grin.

Merlin, Arthur, and Morgana were all corrected though it was certainly was not as humiliating as when Malfoy was corrected. Merlin could hear Ron and Harry's sniggers with Gwaine's resounding laughter which made Malfoy scowl, only resulting in even more laughter.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you will kick off from the ground, hard" said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle- three- two- "

Neville shot off, having lost control, and fell from twenty feet above the rest of the students. Madam Hooch ran to make sure he was okay, muttering to herself as she looked at his injury before addressing the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on dear".

She led Neville back into the castle.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Malfoy laughed.

"Priceless" agreed Morgana as the other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up Malfoy" Pavarti Patil snapped.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" asked Pansy Parkinson "never thought _you'd_ like fat little crybabies Pavarti" Morgana laughed as the girls face turned a brilliant shade of red.

"Look" Malfoy said as he picked something up from the ground "it's that stupid thing Longbottom's Gran sent him"

"Give that here Malfoy" Merlin heard Harry say, but stopped paying attention when he noticed Arthur walking purposefully over to Morgana.

"What are you doing?" Arthur hissed at her. She turned to look at him, obviously confused.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Neville could have been seriously hurt, and you were _laughing_ about it, then you let your _friend_ steal something the boy's _Gran_ gave him" Arthur answered, nearly shouting.

"It's not like he died" she argued "and I couldn't have stopped Draco, he doesn't listen to anyone but his sister" she crossed her arms and huffed.

"That doesn't make it okay to make fun of Neville" Merlin chided.

"What do _you_ know about it?!" she sneered rounding on the younger boy "where do you two get off telling me how to act? I can make my own decisions!"

"Well you're not doing a very good job of it" Merlin retorted.

"Stuff it!" Morgana screeched.

"Leave him alone!" Arthur yelled back. Morgana was reaching for her wand along with Arthur when McGonagall's voice rang across the field "Harry Potter!"

The three siblings turned to see Harry- holding the remembrall- drop to the ground from where he was hovering on his broomstick, suddenly looking very frightened under McGonagall's stare.

"_Never_-in all my time at Hogwarts - how _dare _you- might have broken your neck-"

A few students tried to tell McGonagall what had happened, but she wouldn't listen having Harry follow her back to the castle.

Madam Hooch came back and- after being told Harry was with Professor McGonagall- finished their flying lessons. Arthur quickly found out he had quite the aptitude for flying, though Gwaine was still flying circles around him, after finally explaining his father had taught him how to fly at home.

The Pendragon siblings did not look at one another for the rest of the lesson, not wanting to bring the argument back up.

At diner that evening, Merlin and Arthur were quieter than usual, leaving Gwaine to badger the people sitting next to them. The brothers were soon brought out of their bad mood the two Malfoy's, Morgana, and Draco's goon-like friends walked up.

"A lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you" Harry observed, glaring at the blonde boy. Merlin really regretted how much like Arthur Harry could be, jumping straight into a fight without checking that there was a third year standing right behind the boy.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own" the boy replied pompously "Tonight, if you want, Wizard's duel. Wand's only- no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a Wizard's duel before I suppose?"

"Of course he has" Ron said "I'm his second, who's your?"

Merlin was sure he would pick his sister, even though he did not really understand what Ron had meant by 'his second'. "Crabbe" Malfoy answered after a moment "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked".

"Fine" Harry agreed and Merlin could not help but feel this was a bad idea.

Morgouse then turned to the brothers "And what about you two? One of you brave enough to face me, I'm sure one of your friends could explain it to you, unless you're too scared to take on a third year, I would even go easy on you" she mocked.

Silently, Merlin counted in his head _three, two, one-_"I'll take you on" Arthur leapt at the challenge "Merlin'll be my second".

"Morgana's mine, we'll go after Draco and Potter" she smirked and they walked off, leaving Ron to explain to his friends what a Wizard's duel was.

Half past eleven, when Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Gwaine who had just come back from the hospital wing, were asleep, the four boys snuck out of their dormitory.

"I can't believe you're going to do this" said an annoyed voice from one of the couches "I heard you making plans with the Slytherins to have a Wizard's duel, but I didn't actually think you were stupid enough to go through with it".

"_You_" Ron hissed as the bushy haired Hermione Granger stepped into the light let off from the fireplace "go back to bed"

"I almost told your brother- Percy, he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this"

"Whatever, tell If you'd like, we're going" Arthur said and opened the portrait hole, and pulled Merlin along behind him, Harry and Ron close behind. Hermione followed, still nagging about why they should go back to bed right then and forget about the duel.

When they did not listen, she turned to go back in only to find the portrait empty- she was locked out and had no choice but to follow the boys. Merlin felt sorry for her, even if she was being annoying. He personally did not much care about the challenge, but Arthur was not letting him back out of the position he did not even agree to. Then Hermione had also gotten dragged into the mess unwillingly- it was going to be a long night.

They made it down to the trophy rooms with no problems, though there was no sign of the Slytherins. "Where are they?" Harry asked.

"Maybe they're just running late" Merlin suggested uninterestedly.

"Or maybe they set you up?" Hermione suggested pointing to Mrs. Norris who looked like she had just cornered five mice. The boy's faces paled and they silently agreed to run, going out of the door, Hermione following with a small 'I told you so'.

They could hear Filch coming down the hall and quickly ran the other way- right into a suit of armor "Run!" Harry shouted, having lost any hope for not being heard by the caretaker, and did just that, running right by Peeves, of all the ghosts they could have met that night. With a cackle, the poltergeist began shouting out that there were students out of bed, making the five kids run even faster.

"This way" Arthur said, spotting a door and leading them to it, and pulling it only to have it stick "it's locked" he panicked.

"Move over" Hermione ordered "_Alohomorah" _she cast waving her wand at the lock which clicked open. The five students fought their way into the room swinging the door shut behind them panting heavily. They stayed as quite as they could, ears against the wood of the door, listening for any sign of Filch coming to check the door. Thankfully though, they heard as his footsteps faded away.

"He probably didn't check here because he knew the door was locked" Hermione explained to no one in particular. The boys nodded mutely, not really caring why he had went by, just happy that he had.

"Harry" Ron said in a small shaky voice.

"Yeah Ron?" he asked having leaned his head against the door, trying to calm his nerves.

"You should really turn around" he said his voice raising an octive.

"What are you-" his voice trailed off as he looked behind him, prompting Merlin to look as well. When he did, he really wished he had stayed in bed. Standing as tall as the ceiling of the corridor, was a giant, three headed, slobbering dog with the largest set of teeth Merlin could remember seeing on any living creature.

"We should run" he whispered into the room as one of the dog's heads began to growl- he could not tell which one, not that it mattered. Slowly he moved his hand backward until he felt the door knob, and slowly, so he did not alert the dog, swung open the door. Feeling the fresh air from the other side, the five kids let out their pent up fear into a scream, and fled the room, Arthur having enough sense to close the door behind him so the dog had absolutely no way to follow.

They ran all the way back to the common room, the Fat Lady having returned to let them in with a remark about students not being out of bed that they ignored. Inside, once their heart rate had gone back to normal, Ron asked what most of them were wondering.

"What are they doing keeping that monster inside of a school?" he panted.

"You don't use your eyes do you?" Hermione asked.

"It was standing over a trapdoor- guarding something" Merlin answered.

"Exactly" Hermione agreed "Now, I'm going to bed before you get me killed, or worse, _expelled_" she walked up to the girl's dormitory.

"She needs to sort out her priorities" Ron said starring after her.

"She has a point though" Merlin said softly.

"Yeah, she's right, we _should_ go to bed" Arthur said, as usual picking up on the wrong thing, though Merlin could not help but agree with him. Running from an old caretaker and giant three headed dog can really wear an eleven year old boy out.

**A/N: To answer one of my reviewers questions- Arthur is nicer to Merlin when he isn't around Uther. At home he feels more expected to act better than Merlin, because that is how Uther acts. At Hogwarts- which is a bit out of his comfort zone at first- he feels the need to keep as many friends as he can from his normal life, and since Morgana went into Slytherin, Merlin is all he has left.**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, the boys had gotten over the fear from the night before. They now saw it as a great adventure which they quickly retold to Gwaine.

"You mean to tell me that you snuck out last night, to duel a couple of Slytherins, sneak past Filch, _and_ face down Cerberus, and _you didn't invite me!_" Gwaine said, looking more than a little upset. He insisted that he would not be missing out on the next adventure, even if he had to follow them around day and night.

Hermione was mad as well, though for a different reason altogether, something about putting her life in danger. Merlin could understand, though it was obvious to him that the others could not. He was a little surprised to learn though, that she had decided to stop talking to them altogether- Gwaine included because he had said he would have gladly taken her place had he known.

When Harry was sent a mysterious package at breakfast, the boys were sure it had to be a part of their next adventure, Gwaine voicing the thought. Seeing the note that it was not to be opened at the table, the boys rushed out of the Great Hall, hoping to make it back to the Common Room with enough time to open it and get to class on time.

They did not expect to be caught by Malfoy of all people. He was standing on the stairs leading up to the next corridor. When he saw the package, he wasted no time in grabbing it from Harry and ripping open the paper to see what it was "first years aren't allowed to have brooms Potter"

"Like it's any of your business Malfoy" Arthur shot back angrily.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure one of the Professors would love to be informed about this" he said proudly.

"And what exactly would I love to hear about Mr. Malfoy?" questioned McGonagall as she stepped out of the Great Hall behind the five boys.

"Potter's got a broom in the mail" Malfoy said holding the nimbus 2000 out in front of him as evidence.

"Yes, that's right. Professor Dumbledore has given his permission as it is a unique case" McGonagall said with a finality that suggested she would not hear any more about it. With very smug looks on their faces, and with Harry grabbing the broom from Malfoys hands, the five Gryffindor's made their way back up to their common room to store Harry's new broom.

Over the next few weeks, as Harry was kept busy training for his new- secret- position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ron was spending a lot of his time with Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin. Some days they would stay and watch the practice, others, when Wood told them they had to leave, they would go up to the castle and actually attempt to do their homework, which usually meant they would cheat off of Merlin who was making the best grade out of all of them.

Before they knew it, two months had flown by, and they had become very comfortable at Hogwarts. The courses had steadily become more interesting, as well as more difficult and more of their time was being taken up by the need to study. It was now Halloween, and they had a large feast to look forward to after classes that afternoon and Merlin could hardly wait.

In charms class, Professor Flitwick claimed that they were ready to learn to levitate objects- starting with feathers.

"Everyone remembers our wand movement- the swish and flick, now add the spell _Wingardium Leviosa" _he said propelling his own feather into the air "now you".

Around the room students chanted the spell, including Ron who was growing frustrated. Merlin vaguely heard Hermione whispering to him about saying the spell wrong, but he was too busy thinking to really know what she was saying.

"Aren't you going to try Merlin?" Gwaine asked after his own failed attempt.

"Mmm" he mumbled distractedly "Oh- _Wingardium Leviosa_" he incanted halfheartedly pointing his wand in the general direction of his feather which immediately sprang into the air before him. Gwaine and Arthur looked on impressed as Professor Flitwick gave him congratulations.

When Flitwick walked away, Arthur whispered to Gwaine, purposefully loud enough for Merlin to hear "You'd think he'd be happy he did what only one other person managed to do".

"Huh?" Merlin asked, still not paying attention as his feather laid gently back down on the desk.

"Something on your mind?" Gwaine asked with a knowing smile.

"No- or at least not whatever your thinking of" Merlin responded making Arthur laugh.

Gwaine shrugged "You are thinking of something though…"

"Yeah, why are you having such a hard time with this- I mean everyone except Hermione,…" he trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked "We're only having as much trouble as we usually do when learning a new spell".

"That's exactly what I mean" he said as though it should be obvious.

"I'm still not understanding what you're getting at here Merlin" Gwaine confessed.

"What I'm saying is, Hermione is this good because she studies and practices constantly, and she is very talented- but still she has to _try_-…"

Gwaine and Arthur looked at him with twin expressions of disbelief "are you saying you haven't been trying?"

"I didn't even use the wand movement we were taught for that spell, I just pointed it towards the feather, not even directly at it really… and you know I wasn't really concentrating…" he trailed off.

"That's something to happy about though, right?" Gwaine asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"I guess…" Merlin started.

"But-" Arthur said trying to get Merlin to continue.

"I don't know why I'm the only one" he confided finally. The three boys were quite a moment before Arthur spoke again.

"You used to do magic at home".

"Everyone does some accidental magic though" Merlin said waving off the thought, but Arthur shook his head.

"Accidental sure, but you used it _deliberately_".

"What?!" Gwaine asked feather forgotten.

"If you haven't noticed- he's quite clumsy, and he was always spilling things or knocking them down- one time it was Morgana's fish bowl. When that happened, his eyes would glow gold, and the mess would just fix itself- everything would go back to normal, clean up and fix itself" Arthur explained.

Gwaine nodded thoughtfully "What happened to the fish?

"It lived for two weeks until Morgana forgot to feed it" Merlin answered. Gwaine nodded again with a look that said _I knew she was evil_.

Arthur rolled his eyes but continued talking "so you see, it's not just now; you've always been doing this".

Merlin was shocked, but he knew what Arthur was saying was true- he had always been using magic.. Without a wand. An idea hit him and he set his wand down on the table and looked at the feather. Without moving, he spoke the spell "_Wingardium Leviosa_". The feather once again lifted off the surface of the desk, floating in front of Merlin.

"Your eyes…" Gwaine said awed.

"What's going on over here?" Professor Flitwick asked, turning to the three boys and Arthur quickly pointed his wand at the airborne feather.

"Very good Mr. Pendragon" he squeaked and turned back to the rest of the class.

"What was that about?" Gwaine asked as Merlin let the feather fall back down onto the desk.

"I just don't feel like we should tell everyone about this- at least not yet" Arthur explained.

"But maybe the teachers could help" Merlin argued.

"It's just a feeling okay, it would be best if we didn't" the other two nodded begrudgingly and left the room with the bell only to see Hermione tearfully take off down another hall.

"What's going on?" Merlin asked, answered only by the shrugging of his friend's shoulders.

Later that evening, after Herbology, which Hermione never showed up for, the students all gathered in the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.

"Oh no, I left my scarf in the greenhouse, I'm going to run back and get it" Guinevere said from behind them.

"You want me to come with you?" asked Lancelot who had been walking with them from Herbology with Gwen and Leon.

"No, thanks Lance, save me a seat" she said and hurried away. He and Leon walked with the others until they parted ways to take their seats with the rest of their house.

"I'm starving" Gwaine said happily as they took their own seats. Dumbledore stood to give his speech that would start the feast as the doors to the Great Hall, which had just closed, were thrust back open, Professor Quirrell stumbling down the aisle yelling "Troll, Troll in the dungeon… thought you ought to know" before falling to the floor in a faint.

Merlin didn't know who the first to scream was, or what set whoever it was off, because for the tiniest moment after Quirrell had fallen, there was complete silence, then chaos. It was so loud, he was hardly aware of what was going on, only that he could not tell where he ended and where the rest of the mad mob of yelling, frantic kids began.

Then Dumbledore restored the order, with only his voice which rang out through the room powerfully. "QUIET!"

Everyone did as they were ordered and then followed the next orders just as fully, all except Harry, Ron, Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin of course. As Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine walked out the heard Harry and Ron whisper about Hermione not knowing about the troll and running off on their own.

"Should we go with them?" Gwaine asked, obviously looking for the adventure he had been left out of last time.

"No, Guinevere doesn't know about the troll either-she went back to the greenhouses" They all nodded, deciding what they had to do and rushed off in the opposite direction of Harry and Ron. As they ran down the hallway, the only other sound besides their feet slapping against the stone floor, was Gwaine's laughter "_What_ is so funny Gwaine?"

"You getting' all protective over your wife from the legends" he said still laughing "looks like you took those stories seriously"

"Oh, yeah!" Merlin said happily and started laughing with Gwaine.

"Shut up- the troll might hear us" Arthur hissed, but he could not hide the way his face was turning red making the two boys laugh harder. Trying to make them shut up, Arthur did not notice as he was rounding a corner, that Guinevere was rounding the same one, running right into each other "Gwen!"

"Hi-"she drawled out the word from where she sat on the floor having been knocked over. Arthur stood and helped her up as well.

"We were looking for you" he explained.

"Why- I mean, why would you be-"

"There's a troll in the castle and we were all told to go to our common rooms, but we knew you didn't know because you had went back to the greenhouses, so we came to find you" Gwaine said quickly, not taking a breath between his words "Now, we should run"

"Run?" the others asked.

He pointed down the hall at a large grey troll lumbering around, just catching sight of them and changing its direction "Yes, run!"

The four students ran down the hall, away from the large creature that was now following them at a pace far faster than they would have liked. Rounding another corner so the troll could not see them, Gwaine ducked into an empty classroom, the others following silently until…

**BAM!**

"_Mer_lin…" Arthur hissed helping his friend up from the ground, where he had fallen when knocked over a metal filing cabinet "well, it's probably coming right to us now, you clumsy idiot".

"We need to focus" Gwaine hissed back as they heard the troll grunt, not far from the classroom.

"Hide!" Arthur whisper-shouted, ducking behind the large teacher's desk the others following him. Crouching down under the uncomfortably small desk, Arthur began whispering a plan

"We need a way to distract it so that we can get out of the back door" luckily the classroom they had hidden in had two doors leading out into the hallways "and hopefully not let it know we went out"

"Fred and George taught me a spell to create a small firework, I could blind it for a minute" Gwaine offered.

"Good, wait 'till he gets in the middle of the classroom, it's likely that when it's blinded it will try and get away, and it'll trip over the desks. Hopefully that'll give us an extra few seconds" they heard the sound of the troll slam the door open, apparently having _finally_ figured out how to open the door, that or realized it could simply break it down, Merlin did not raise his head to check, and Arthur warned them "be ready to run".

They all nodded at him, and Gwaine stuck his head out at the side of the desk, wand at the ready. Merlin heard the sound of desks scraping against the floor as the troll moved through the room, coming closer to their hiding spot, then…

The sound of a mini explosion accompanied by a loud roar that had Merlin's ears ringing, and his feet moving, taking him toward the door. A resounding thump alerted them that the troll had done as Arthur had predicted and tripped over the desks, falling to the ground.

What Arthur did not predict however was the troll blindly deciding to pick up one of the desks and trying to throw it at whatever had blinded it. Going directly by sound, the troll threw the desk right through the door the four students had just ran through, and right at the person in the back- Merlin.

Merlin was running one moment, and the next thing he knew, he was lying face down on the ground, a weight on his legs and something digging into his lower back. He vaguely heard his name being called, somewhat registered the weight being lifted off of him and whatever and been digging into his back leaving with it.

What he did notice however, was that the troll was starting to get up from the pile of desks, rubbing its eyes. He could tell it would not stay there for much longer, and instinctively sent a wave of power that made his eyes glow golden for the tiniest of moments, shut and locked the door, hopefully to confuse the still blind troll. He felt his body being pulled around, someone trying to pick him up. Lying in this new direction, his eyesight starting to go fuzzy, he saw a very strange sight.

Around the same corner that they had led the troll past to the classroom, he saw a man with a large purple head peering around at them, though not moving to help. As soon as it realized that Merlin was looking at it- whatever it was- it quickly ran back behind the wall to wherever it came from. Slowly he felt his body being lifted, and supported on both sides by two other people, but all he could think of was that he did not know any magical creature that looked like a large, purple headed man… though he really wished he did, maybe it could have helped them with the troll… or maybe it was worse than the troll…

After going up two flights of stairs and down three corridors, they came to where they had to separate to get their own common rooms.

"We can walk you back" Arthur offered, still supporting a dizzy Merlin.

"You need to get Merlin to his bed" she refused. Merlin had become more aware of his surroundings during their escape from the troll, his back was sore, and the room was still spinning, but he did not feel like he needed to go to the Hospital Wing.

"I can't just let you walk back alone" he argued.

"Gwen!"

"Guinevere!" came two shouts as two boys ran down the hallway towards them. She looked behind her and cried out happily.

"Lance, Leon!" she blinked back tears of relief at seeing her friends before throwing herself at them and pulling them into a hug.

"When we couldn't find you, I got so worried, they wouldn't let us leave the common room" Lance explained "but we snuck out as soon as we could. Are you okay?" he looked upset that he had not been there for her, the other boy showing just as much worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, thanks to Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin. Merlin got hurt though" she said softly gesturing to the boy still leaning on Arthur's shoulder.

"I'm fine" he protested, Gwaine and Arthur rolling their eyes at his words.

Lance turned to the three Gryffindor boys, and said, with more sincerity than an eleven year old boy should have, "I am in your debt, I cannot thank you enough"

"Of course" Arthur replied sounding like taking on a troll was an everyday thing for him, and that he had not been scared for his life the whole time, making Merlin roll his own eyes, which only made his head hurt worse.

"I hope your friend is okay" Leon said kindly looking at Merlin like he might fall unconscious at any second.

"He'll be okay" Arthur said more confidently then he felt.

"Stronger than he looks" agreed Gwaine.

"About that… what he did… with the door…" Gwen said hesitantly.

"We need to get back, that thing is still in the castle" Gwaine said hastily. He regretted the way Gwen's face paled in obvious fear, but he needed to get her to stop talking about that. She nodded, then on impulse, leaned forward and placed a kiss on Arthur's cheek before grabbing Lance's hand and pulling him down the hallway toward the Hufflepuff dormitories, Leon trailing behind.

"C'mon princess" Gwaine mocked.

"Watch it" Arthur growled, pushing Merlin's weight further onto his shoulder, having let him slip some when Gwen had kissed him. Smirking, Gwaine walked with Arthur and a semi-conscious Merlin back to their dormitory, which was easy to sneak into as everyone else was asleep. They all laid down in their respective beds, ready for some sleep, not even noticing Harry and Ron's empty beds.

**AN: answer to ****Aurora-dawn89****- not in this story, but if I continue with a sequel, he will remember later on.**


	10. Chapter 10

Merlin woke early the next morning- well before he needed too- but was unable to go back to sleep. He lay looking up at the hangings of his bed, thinking about the night before. Mainly, he was thinking of how the troll could have gotten into the castle- and what he had seen looking around the corner at him.

Now that his mind was clear, he felt more certain that whatever it had been, or more likely, who it had been, was probably who had let the troll in. The way the person had stayed hidden, how he did nothing to help, even though he did not really seem to be scared. As he continued to go over it in his head, the surer he became that they had let that troll in, whether they meant for it to find any of the kids in the school or not, he was not sure of.

Merlin lay there thinking over these things until the hangings around his bed were suddenly pulled back, a frantic Arthur looking at him asking "why didn't you wake me up?"

"What?" asked Merlin, feeling confused, Arthur usually complained when he _did_ wake him up.

"You always wake me up- when you didn't I-I-… Just a dream I had…." He trailed off, obviously not wanting to say any more.

"You were worried?" Merlin asked unable to keep the taunting tone out of his voice even though he really was touched, he could only imagine the dream Arthur had had after their adventure the night before.

"We did take on a _troll_" Arthur said back defensively.

"Sorry" Merlin said sympathetically when he saw how upset Arthur had really been, he should not have teased him.

Arthur nodded in acknowledgement "C'mon, we should get Gwaine up and head to breakfast".

Throughout the day, Merlin noticed several things. First, most of the kids had moved on from talking about the troll to the upcoming Quidditch game- which Harry would be playing in.

Second, Harry and Ron seemed to be including Hermione into their friendship for no obvious reason- or at least not to him.

Third, Professor Snape could be seen trying to hide a limp as he walked, doing his best to look normal.

Fourth, Guinevere, every time she saw Arthur in the hallway, would duck her head, barely hiding the way her cheeks would turn red, and her lips would tug up into a small smile.

Fifth, and most obviously, Arthur was acting increasingly strange as the day went on. He was acting- if Merlin did not know any better- protective of him. Any time a Slytherin walked by them, or even looked in their general direction, Arthur would subtly move between Merlin and them.

He continuously checked over his shoulder to make sure he was still next to him, and he hardly left his side all day. He would then find any excuse to ask him if he was okay or if anything was wrong. It was starting to get somewhat frustrating.

When they were walking up the steps, heading back to the common room, and Merlin stumbled, he saw how Arthur's shoulders tensed and he looked ready to drop his books and help if he was needed. "I'm fine Arthur" he insisted.

"What're you talking about?" he huffed trying to look as though he did not care.

"You're acting like I'm going to break if you aren't there to protect me today, what's gotten into you?" he asked

Arthur looked somewhat embarrassed, like he had not meant Merlin to find out he had been trying to protect him. "You got hurt last night, when _I _was the one who wanted to go looking for Guinevere- it was my fault you were even there"

"I didn't want her to get hurt either and what do you think would have happened to her if we weren't there?"

"I know- how's your back?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject "Yes, "I've noticed you wincing every time you sit down or get up all day"

Now Merlin was embarrassed " 'S not bad"

Arthur rolled his eyes "that's why I'm being protective; you won't even admit that you're hurt. You'd never let someone put themselves in danger just because you are"

"I'm not in any danger" Merlin argued, not understanding what Arthur meant by that.

"No" Arthur admitted "but you wouldn't admit it if you were, you wouldn't let me help you if you were, you would keep it secret and try to deal with it on your own, even if you can't" Arthur's words made him think of Uther, and how he had threatened him the last time he had seen him.

"Don't worry so much, I'm fine" he gave Arthur his trademark grin, making Arthur roll his eyes, but he didn't argue. The rest of the day went by normally, or as normal as you can get in a school for magic.

The next day however, was not so normal. It was the day of the first Quidditch match of the year, and Merlin could tell Harry was nervous. Hermione had to almost force him to eat, and he kept staring worriedly off into space.

"Excited?" Arthur asked in his normal, oblivious of emotions way.

Finally Harry left his five friends to go get ready for the game. Merlin and the rest slowly made their way to the Quidditch stands. All five were sitting together, watching as the player flew back and forth, Ron and Gwaine having to explain the game to Arthur and Merlin- Hermione having read the rules beforehand.

Gryffindor had just scored when Hagrid came up into the stands.

"Hagrid!" the kids welcomed him, making room for him to sit with them.

"Bin' watchin' from the hut, bu' it's not the same" he said patting his binoculars that hung around his neck.

Merlin was impressed by the wizarding sport. He assumed it would be like any other sport, but it was very interesting. He could not help but get caught up in it. Arthur too, seemed engrossed in the match.

They all, however, were very worked up when Flint- one of the Slytherin players- had deliberately cut Harry off his course for the snitch.

Even that though, did not compare to the fear they all felt for their friend when his broom began to buck and shake, clearly out of control, far enough off the ground, that if Harry fell off, he would be seriously injured or worse.

"What's going on?" Gwaine demanded standing from his seat angrily, the first to notice the strange behavior of the broom.

"His broom…" Ron started.

"Did something happen when Flint blocked him?" Arthur asked, worry evident on his face.

"Can't have" Hagrid said, his voice shaking "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful dark magic- no kid could do that to a Nimbus 2000".

At Hagrid's words, Hermione grabbed his binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she looked across the crowd.

"What're you doing?" moaned Ron.

"I knew it" Hermione gasped "Snape-look"

Ron looked through the binoculars right across the stands, paling as he did so. Merlin knowing he would not see what they could without the binoculars, looked across the stands, scanning the blur of people, his eyes resting on- a man with a large purple head.

Missing the last part of Ron and Hermione's conversation, Merlin stole the binoculars from Ron's hands, to look for the man with the purple head.

He should have realized, it made sense, who else would have purple on their head like that? Quirrell- deep in concentration, his eyes focused on a certain point far above them, muttering what could only have been a spell.

Just as he was about to say something, Quirrell's attention was drawn from Harry and the crowd gasped. Looking up from the binoculars, Merlin watched Harry come in for a hard landing and spit out the snitch- the stands roaring in applause, Lee Jordan saying over the loud speake "Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor wins!"

Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine went with Hermione and Ron to congratulate Harry and to make sure he was okay, asking if he knew what had happened to his broom- which he did not.

Hagrid invited them all to come to his hut to celebrate, but Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine declined, instead walking back up to the castle.

Christmas was coming and students were getting excited about going home and seeing their families. Well, most of them.

"I feel bad for all the kids who have to stay here over the holiday because they aren't wanted at home" Malfoy's comment had been directed at Harry, but it hit Merlin just as hard, or harder. It reminded him that he needed to tell Arthur that he was not going home for Christmas break- that was going to be fun.

"What do you mean you're staying here?" Arthur exploded when he told him while they were finishing their homework for potions.

Merlin shrugged, slightly embarrassed, but not enough to change his mind. "I'm staying here; I've already signed the form.

Arthur continued to argue with Merlin, asking him what reason he had _not_ to go home for the holidays. Merlin, of course, had one very good reason, but not one he could tell Arthur.

Arthur never seemed to realize that how Uther treated Merlin was not how a father should treat a son- biological or not. He also did not seem to notice that the way he acted toward Merlin changed when he was around Uther, like he was trying to prove something, or hide it.

Arthur cared deeply for his father, and Merlin did not want to ruin that. He also did not want to spend any more time with Uther than he really had too. Having been away from him for these few months had shown a difference in Merlin. He did not have to worry as much, and he could act more the way he wanted, it had been very good for his self-esteem, and he did not want to ruin that either.

Arthur- having no other choice- finally relented. When the holidays started, he told Merlin to be careful and not to do anything stupid to which Merlin gave a cheeky "We'll see"

Gwaine felt bad for leaving his friend alone, but he knew Ron and Harry would also be staying, so it would not be so bad. "Later mate" he had called out before leaving, Merlin waving bye and going to sit with Harry and Ron as the common room continued to empty.


	11. Chapter 11

As the holidays began, Merlin was happy to find Harry and Ron had taken a break from their daily stay in the library which had started the day of the Quidditch match- which is also when Merlin had started watching Professor Quirrell.

During his lessons, when he would stutter over the name of some dark creature, Merlin would catch a slight glint of amusement in the man's eye, as though he were deceiving someone and he knew it. There were times, during meals, when he would see the man glaring in Dumbledore's direction, and then quickly putting on an innocent face when someone said his name. He did not know what the man had to gain from acting like a stuttering, fearful, fool, but he knew it could not be good.

Over the holiday though, he did not see much of Quirrell, and so did not see any strange behavior that made him any more suspicious, leaving the matter to migrate to the back of his mind.

Christmas Day, Merlin woke up to Ron cheerfully calling "Merry Christmas". Harry smiled and said the same, wishing them both a Merry Christmas as well.

"Will you look at this, I've got some presents!" Harry exclaimed seeing a pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

"Of course, what did you expect, turnips?" Merlin laughed at this and looked at his own pile with a wide grin. He reached down and pulled up a package from, surprisingly- Uther.

It was a small envelope with a card and a single gold galleon. Amazed Uther would send him so much, especially since Arthur and Morgana were not there to see that he did not get anything- the only reason Uther ever got him anything- he opened the card.

It was a silly card you could get from any store, with an overly glittery Santa Clause on the front, the inside saying a simple Merry Christmas and underneath a small letter from Uther.

_Merlin,_

_ Arthur and Morgana wanted me to tell them what I was going to get you for Christmas, and when I told them that I was simply giving you your own money to get what you wanted, they insisted I let them exchange it for wizarding money. Everything is going good here, but what I said to you at the train station still stands,_

_ From,_

_Uther Pendragon_

Merlin rolled his eyes at the last line, though he knew that he meant it. At Harry and Ron's questioning looks- they knew his father was a muggle- he explained "He had Arthur and Morgana have his money exchanged so he could pay me for not coming home"

Harry looked down at the half-pence piece he had gotten from his aunt and uncle "I guess my aunt and uncle don't value my absence as much as I thought" making Merlin chuckle.

"What's with him?" Ron asked "why was he being so hard on you at the train station?"

"He's not really comfortable with the magic thing. He didn't know about Arthur and Morgana until he got the letters from here, but he always knew about me, I used a lot of… accidental magic when I was little" he shrugged "he said it was my fault that Arthur and Morgana had magic now, that if they had not adopted me, they would have been normal"

"That's stupid, magic isn't a disease, either you have it or you don't" Ron said annoyed.

"I know that, and I think he does too, but he won't admit it. He needs someone to blame, and since I'm not really related to him, he chose me. When I'm at home, he treats me like a servant that doesn't have a brain… and Arthur, well Arthur looks up to his dad"

"That's how it is at my house, my parents, when they were killed by Voldemort" Ron winced as Harry said the name, though Merlin did not bat an eye, "there were no other magical relatives for me to live with so I was sent to stay with my muggle aunt and her husband and son. They don't like magic either, they lied to me for years about what happened to my parents, treated me horrible"

Merlin nodded in understanding "Arthur's mother was killed by Voldemort too, though we though he was just some serial killer until we found out about the Wizarding world. She was a muggle too"

"How did you end up with them?" Ron asked.

"Arthur's mother couldn't get pregnant for a long time, and she really wanted a baby. Uther finally signed them up to adopt a child, when he secretly had an affair. Morgana's mother was a witch Uther told us when we found out about ourselves, and she didn't want to take care of her, so she named her then sent her to Uther. Ygraine was happy to have her, though she was infuriated with Uther, they almost split up except she had finally gotten pregnant, and she didn't want the baby to be without a father or Morgana without a mother.

"While all of that was going on, they forgot to take their names off the adoptive parents list, and my mother, who was apparently very young, decided she wanted to put her baby up for adoption as soon as it was born. They contacted Ygraine and Uther, and they told them they had no other options for me at the moment and Ygraine couldn't stand the thought of a baby being put into an orphanage, so she agreed. Within just a few months, they found themselves with three newborns.

"Only a few months later, Ygraine was found dead in an alley between our house and the grocery store. She didn't have any of the groceries, and had all her money. She was killed for no reason before she had even made it to the store"

"How did you know it was you-know-who?"

"That I'm not sure about. Uther always said that a police man, or some official had told him that it was the MO of that particular serial killer and he was sure that was who had done it, or at least one of his followers"

"It must have been a wizard who told your father, none of the muggles would have known who that was" Ron said Merlin just shrugged.

They were quite for a while before Ron finally said "C'mon, we still have presents to open" this immediately cheered the others back up and they resumed opening their presents.

Merlin's other presents were more to his liking. Gwaine had sent him a bright red neck scarf which Merlin had told him he liked only in passing. Grinning, he tied the cloth around his neck, showing Harry and Ron who both admitted that it looked right on him.

Arthur sent him a ton of candy and a wizard's chess set along with a note saying he challenged him to a match when he got back. Merlin grinned at the challenge, planning to practice with Ron as much as he could until the end of the break.

Morgana also sent him a load of candy, along with it a chocolate frog card depicting Merlin- the famous wizard of legend. Merlin smirked at the irony, as he had sent her a giant load of goodies along with a card depicting Morgana- the evil witch.

Hagrid had also sent him something. Wrapped sloppily, but tightly was one of his rock hard tea cakes. Smiling at the thought, he set the cake aside for never.

Two more packages were left, and he picked up the littlest first, sent from Guinevere. He opened it to find a small figurine of mountain troll sitting in a small desk wearing a pair of glasses on its face.

_Merlin,_

_ I'm so thankful for you and the others saving me that night. I feel so bad that you got hurt- by a flying desk of all things, not something you see every day. I was shopping with my dad and my brother in Diagon Alley when I saw this. Of course it made me think of you, and I hope that whenever you look at it you'll be reminded of how brave you were, and that you were a hero. I probably would have died if you three had not come along._

_ With thanks,_

_Guinevere Coote_

_ P.S. Would you say thank you to Gwaine for me, I'm scared it would go to his head if I wrote him a letter._

Merlin laughed at her last line, silently admitting that it would probably go to the boys head.

He pulled up his last package which was addressed from Mrs. Weasly. He opened the package to find a blue sweater with a red train on the front. He smiled at the obviously handmade sweater thinking of the nice woman he had met at the train station.

Merlin was pulled out of his thoughts when Ron exclaimed "I've heard of those. If that's what I think it is, it's really rare and very valuable"

"What is it?" Harry asked holding a silky cloak in his hands.

"An invisibility cloak, put it on" Ron said. Doing so, Harry's body disappeared.

"Whoa" Merlin breathed.

"There's a card" Ron said and Harry read it, looking more confused. Fred and George came in then and Harry hid the cloak though Merlin was not sure why.

"Both of you got a sweater as well?" asked Fred- or at least the twin with the sweater that had a letter F on its front.

"Looks like mum makes 'em better if you aren't a part of the family" noticed George inspecting Harry and Merlin's sweaters.

"Why aren't you wearing yours Ron?" asked Fred.

"I hate maroon" he grumbled pulling the sweater over his head, Harry and Merlin doing the same with theirs.

"Hey, yours doesn't have a letter on it, guess she thinks you're smart enough not to forget your name. But we're not stupid- we know our names are Gred and Forge" Fred said.

Percy walked in then, his own sweater in clutched in one of his hands and was quickly assaulted by the twins who forced the sweater on him.

Diner was great, Merlin had never eaten so much- but it had been so good he could not stop. By the time it was over, all he wanted to do was sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Merlin woke up in the middle of the night to find Harry was not in his bed. Assuming he was in the common room, Merlin padded down the stairs, being quite so he did not wake Ron. Confused, he could find not find Harry their either. Curious (but not nosey, or at least, that's what he told himself) Merlin opened the portrait and stepped into the hallway.

"What are you doing up so late?" the Fat Lady asked harshly.

"I was wondering if anyone else has left the tower tonight?" he asked, ignoring her question.

Frowning, she answered "my portrait swung open from the inside, but I saw no one leave".

Merlin nodded "Thanks, will you tell if I don't go back in?"

She looked the boy over then smiled "I won't tell, kids need to have a little fun, just don't blame me if you're caught, understood? I was asleep when you left".

"Of course" Merlin smiled his thanks and walked down the hall. He was not sure where he was going, or why really. It was likely Harry was just testing his new cloak out, and even if he was up to something and Merlin came across him, he would not be able to see him anyway.

That is when the screaming started. Ignoring the facts that he was eleven, knew next to nothing in the way of spells, was wandless, _and _in his pajamas, he ran toward the screaming. He quickly found that the noise was coming from the library, and that the Professors- or at least Filch- would be coming soon, and he was not supposed to be out of his dormitory, he ducked behind a suit of armor.

Filch walked by a moment later then turned, walking by again in the other direction. About to leave, Merlin ducked back down as he heard Filch saying "You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wondering around at night, and somebody's been in the library- the Restricted section".

"Restricted Section, they couldn't have gone far" Snape replied walking down the hallway, though it ended into another hallway that went two different directions "Go that way, I'll go the other one of us will catch him. Find me if you do, there's no reason to wake the headmaster over this".

That sentence both relieved and scared Merlin to death. It was relieving to know this was not headmaster bad, but he really did not want to have to explain to Snape that he had been following his invisible friend out of his dormitory.

_Invisible _friend. It was very unlikely that they would find Harry, and if they did, Merlin would be very impressed. This was not a good thing though, because they would continue looking until they found the culprit, and unless there was yet another student out of bed, he was the only visible suspect they had. Merlin was beginning to realize when his common sense told him to stay in bed, he should really start listening.

Hearing the receding sound of footsteps, Merlin stepped out from behind the armor, ready to make a run for Gryffindor tower, but instead ran into something solid. A person's chest. Looking up, though he really did not want to, he saw the scowling face of Professor Sanpe.

"Professor" he said cheerfully "do you sleep walk as well?"

"What are you doing out of bed Mr. Pendragon?" Merlin scowled at being addressed like that "And no more of the bad sleep walking lie"

Giving a sigh, he shrugged saying "it felt like a good idea at the time".

"Indeed" the Professor said drawing the word out "perhaps you should accompany me to my office where we can discuss just how many points you have lost for your house"

Having no choice in the matter, Merlin followed the angry teacher down to the dungeons- a chilling thought to associate with Snape even during the day- hoping not to find and cells still in use under the castle.

"Sit" Snape snapped when they entered his small office lined with jars upon jars of potions ingredients. Merlin did as he was told, sitting across the desk from the Professor's chair which Snape ignored, preferring to stand. "Explain".

Determined not to get Harry in trouble, he sat up in his seat and looked Snape in the eyes "I just wanted to go for a walk around the castle".

"In the dead of night?" the Professor asked disbelieving.

"In the dead of night" Merlin confirmed with a nod of his head, refusing to say any more.

"And why, did you go into the Restricted Section of the library?"

"Restricted Section, I hadn't even made it to the library" he said

"But you were going there, why?"

Merlin blushed slightly _don't underestimate Snape_ he told himself, he had not meant to let the teacher know he was even going there "I heard the screaming"

Snape rolled his eyes "Gryffindor's… you heard screaming and you thought you should run towards it instead of to a teacher?"

"I assumed you were all asleep" he shrugged.

"And that's the story you're sticking with?" he asked, still disbelieving.

"It's the truth" Merlin said back.

"I doubt that…" Snape muttered "fifteen points will be taken for being out of bed after hours"

"I expected that" Merlin admitted to Snape, though he had thought it would be more than fifteen.

"You can go back to your dormitory" he said sitting at his desk and looking at some papers that were lying on it. Merlin nodded and stood up to leave before turning back to Snape "What is it?"

"Why did you have Filch report directly to you?"

"That does not concern you, leave"

"You were expecting someone to be sneaking around"

"One of you troublesome kids" he sneered, finally looking up from his paperwork.

Merlin shook his head "No, someone else… why do you want to teach Defense so bad?"

Snape looked taken aback by the sudden change of topic "what?"

"All the other students say that you've always wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arthrs, but you are very talented at potions, and judging from the speech you gave at the start of term, your very passionate about it… so, why?"

"It has always been my favorite subject, followed by potions… now, if you have no more foolish questions" he said dismissively.

"Actually…"

"What now?" sighed the Potions Master.

"Professor Quirrell, you don't like him. Everyone can see it, but what they don't see is, it's not because of the job, it's something else. You don't trust him."

"What does this have to do with anything Pendragon?"

"The first Quidditch match, what happened to Harry's broom… it wasn't you."

"How dare you insinuate such things" Snape roared.

"Not me" Merlin admitted "Hermione saw you chanting a spell that day- and Harry isn't your favorite student- the three came to their own conclusions- they haven't told anyone- I just happened to be there when she saw you".

"It was a counter curse" he admitted "I was trying to stop whoever it was that was tampering with Potter's broom".

"I thought it was something like that- you don't seem the type to sing under your breath" Snape's eyes narrowed into angry slits at this but he did not say anything about it, instead asking

"Why don't you believe them?"

"I saw someone else chanting that day- of course if I told anyone else they would never believe me, someone wearing a large purple turban" Snapes eyes widened and his eyebrows rose in shock "I'm right aren't I, that's who you're having Filch watch for"

Snape stood up and looked down at Merlin "I suggest you not tell anyone else this without sufficient proof. And if you have any common sense at all, you won't let him know you are suspicious. He may seem completely useless and weak at first glance, but I fear that is not the case at all".

Merlin gave the Potions Master a nod of understanding before turning to leave again, stopping at the door way when Snape called "And Mr. Pendragon, five points to Gryffindor". Merlin smiled all the way back to his dormitory.


	13. Chapter 13

The day before term started, Merlin was pulled out of bed and onto the cold stone floor. Bleary eyed, he looked for the person who had drug him out of bed.

"Gwaine!" he exclaimed cheerfully "you're back"

"I am, and what do I come back to, but my reliable alarm clock sleeping in the day before term, tut, tut Merlin" he said with a wide grin.

"Don't worry Gwaine, you'll be on time for breakfast in the morning"

"Glad to hear it" he said cheerfully clapping Merlin affectionately on the shoulder and started telling him about how his holidays had went.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed as he came into the room, a wide smile on his face.

"Arthur!" Merlin said back, just as happily.

"Gwaine!" Gwaine yelled with a mischievous grin on his face, making his friends roll their eyes.

Merlin turned back to Arthur asking "You ready for our match?"

"Let's go" he said back setting his bags down and rummaging through, looking for his chess set.

"This I _have_ to see" Gwaine said ginning.

Arthur ended up winning quite easily to Merlin's annoyance. The three spent the rest of the day catching up and talking about their holidays- Merlin leaving out Harry's cloak and being caught by Snape. Term restarted and things went back to normal. Soon, another Quidditch match was announced. Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, refereed by Snape. If Gryffindor won, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship.

Arthur and Gwaine were sure, along with many other Gryffindor's, that Snape was going to be unfair towards Gryffindor, saying he only volunteered to make sure Gryffindor did not win the House Cup.

Merlin agreed with this, though not with the reasoning behind it. He knew Snape wanted his house to win, he could be very competitive. He did not, however, think it was just because it was Gryffidor that was catching up to Slytherin, but rather, that another House was catching up to his.

Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine sat with Ron, Hermione, and Neville to watch the match. Malfoy of course, had to be sitting behind them. He wasted no time in insulting Ron and Neville which started a fight. Not to be left out, Gwaine and Arthur stepped in to help Neville with Crabbe and Goyle. Ron seemed to be handling Malfoy quite well on his own. Hermione did not notice at all, to busy watching Harry.

"Not joining in?" asked Morgana as she sat down next to Merlin.

"They've got it covered" he shrugged "what about you?"

"Not my style" she said pompously.

"Of course, you prefer staying in the background, making snide remarks, and letting someone else do the work"

Morgana shook her head "My style is influencing idiots to do what I need and taking control when it's time"

Merlin rolled his eyes "Uther?"

"And Arthur sometimes" she smiled thinking of how she had manipulated them when it suited her "I couldn't do it to you though"

Merlin looked at her confused.

"When I tried to make you do something-like get Arthur in trouble- I thought you were too stupid to understand what I wanted you to do. Really though, your just too you… You'll do what you think is best all the time, even if it's not".

Hermione was jumping up and down at whatever play they had just done on the Quidditch field. "Why are you here?"

"I had a dream last night" Merlin knew how the dreams affected his sister, having stayed up many nights with her because of them; he knew how they would _always_ come true "You have to be careful".

"Why, what did you dream?" he asked, growing concerned.

"I saw Professor Quirrell, and you were there… I don't know what was happening, it was so confusing, not like most of my dreams. You looked so scared, like you had seen a monster… or like you were about to die… then I saw Quirrell, he had his back to you, and he was unwrapping his turban… when it was off, there was another face, a disturbing face… I can't even describe how monstrous it was, it was there, on the back of his head… and it _talked_"

"What did it say?" Merlin asked, feeling queasy

"it said something about a stone, and that it would make you kill him, whether you wanted to or not… I don't know what it meant, but you know my dreams are real. He has _two _faces. Merlin, what am I supposed to do, how can I look at him again, he's going to try and make you kill someone!"

"Morgana calm down, I'm not going to kill anyone. As for Quirrell, you have to act like everything is normal. He obviously isn't as good as we thought he was… and he probably doesn't want anyone to know about his second head. If he knows you know… who knows what he'll do"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, I promise. I won't do anything dangerous, okay?"

She nodded weakly, somewhat pacified "I wish I could control this better, but students can't take divination until third year"

"Maybe if you told the teachers, since it's a special case, they might make an exception" she shook her head ruefully before standing and walking away.

"What was that about?" Arthur asked sitting down, his uniform torn and pulled out of place. Merlin noticed the three Slytherins slinking off from the stands.

"Not sure" he admitted.

Merlin felt kind of bad for not having seen Harry's excellent play, but there was little he could do about it. He congratulated him, and l with Arthur and Gwaine, Harry admitted beating up Malfoy and his two goons was a good reason for missing his play.

Grinning wildly, Harry left to take his broom back to the broom shed. Arthur and Gwaine left for the common room, Merlin saying he was going to catch up with Harry. He intended to apologize again, it sounded like an excellent play and he was sorry he had dissed it

"Hey" Harry said when Merlin came up next to him

"Hey, mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure" he said happily and the two walked to the brooms head, Merlin about to tell him sorry again when he saw a dark figure sneaking across the grounds

"is that…"Merlin started

"Snape" Harry confirmed also having seen the man, and after a split seconds hesitation mounted his broom saying to Merlin "get on"

Merlin wasted no time in doing as harry said. he did not believe the man would be doing anything wrong, but he was curious, Harry took off following Snape from above and landing in the branches of a tree when he stopped.

Another man stood there, quivering "Quirrell?" Merlin breathed.

"I-I-I- don't see why you wanted to meet out here Severus" stuttered Quirrell.

"Oh, I thought it would keep it private, Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone after all" Snape answered menacingly.

_Sorcerer's Stone? _Merlin thought bewildered, thinking of Morgana's dream, Quirrell saying something about a stone.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Snape asked.

_Beast of Hagrid's- what?_

"B-b-but Severus, I-"

"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell"

"I-I don't know what you-"

"You know perfectly we'll what I mean"

An owl hooted nearby making the boys nearly fall from there perch, drawing Quirrell's attention. Merlin tried to shrink back into the shadows so he would not be seen, Quirrell looked back to Snape.

"-your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting" they heard the last bit of what Snape had to say.

"B-but I d-d-don't-"

"Very well" Snape cut in "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie". Snape threw his cloak back over his head and stormed away from Quirrell who was standing as still as a statue, looking at the place Snape had walked off.

When they made it back to the castle, Merlin could tell Harry knew some things he did not- though obviously not the part that Quirrell was the bad guy instead of Snape- and he wanted answers. "What were they talking about- Hagrid's beast, Sorcerer's Stone? What's going on?"

Harry sighed "Hagrid's beast is the three headed dog in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, the one we ran into that day. His name is Fluffy by the way" Merlin sent him an incredulous look and Harry just shrugged "the Sorcerer's Stone is a stone that can metals into gold, and even create the elixir of life- though I'm not sure how"

"And I'm guessing _Fluffy_ is guarding this stone?"

"Yeah, and Snape wants it"

"What?" Merlin asked, shocked at the boys conclusion.

"You heard him, he was threatening Quirrell to get him the stone" Harry explained.

Merlin was about to argue that Quirrell was not all that he seemed until he remembered Snape's warning- he had no proof "Yeah, maybe"

"I need to tell Ron and Hermione… are you coming?"

"Can we tell Arthur and Gwaine?" Merlin asked; glad that he might be able to finally let them in on something.

Harry looked hesitant, but eventually nodded. They ran back to their dormitory and found their friends and told them what happened- filling in gaps for Arthur and Gwaine.

"This is crazy" Arthur finally said.

"It's all true" Hermione insisted.

"I never said it wasn't" Arthur said back "just that it's crazy"


	14. Chapter 14

Merlin watched as Harry and Ron tried to boost Qurriell's confidence, hoping to help him stand against Snape, so that _Snape_ could not get _his_ hands on the stone. It took everything Merlin had not to yell at them for it. Arthur and Gwaine kept trying to stay near Quirrell, hoping to not let Snape have any chance to talk to him alone.

Quirrell however soon asked them if there was a reason they had been following him, his stuttering going into overdrive. Seeing that they were only making the Professor more nervous, they decided to just keep an eye out for anything unusual as they went about their normal day.

Merlin was keeping his own eye on Quirrell, though for different reasons than his friends. Nothing seemed wrong with the man, at first. When he noticed Arthur and Gwaine however, he also noticed Merlin spying on him. HE caught him starring at his red neckerchief, as though remembering it from somewhere, and Merlin found himself wondering if Quirrell had seen him and Harry that day, or at least Merlin's very noticeable neckerchief. After that, he decided he should try to not draw as much attention to himself.

Hermione however, was focusing on schoolwork, and their fast approaching end of year exams. All six were currently sitting in the library with their homework in front of them at Hermione's insistence.

Hagrid came out from one of the aisles of books then and Harry greeted him happily.

"What're you lot doing in the library, not looking up Nicholas Flamel again are yeh?" then blushed as he noticed Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin.

"Don't worry, they know, and we all know about the stone" Ron said dismissively.

"SHH, don't go rabbitin' about it" Hagrid said.

"Actually Hagrid, we've been wondering what else is guarding the stone" Harry said.

"SHH, look, come to me hut tonight-" he sent a look at Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine.

"They can keep a secret" Hermione vouched.

Hagrid nodded "come down later, but I ain't sayin' I'll say anything about _that_, they'll think I told yeh about it" Hagrid walked out hiding something behind his back.

"What was he hiding?" Harry asked.

"I'll go see what section he was in" Ron said and returned a minute later, eyes wide "_dragons_. He was researching dragons". This piqued Merlin's interest, but he did not say anything.

Later that day, the six friends went down to Hagrid's hut. He had all the windows and doors shut, the curtains drawn, and a fire roaring.

"So- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" He asked as they sat down around his house.

"We wanted to know what else was guarding the stone" Harry said bluntly.

"I can't tell yeh that, mainly because I don't know me self, but also because yeh already too much already and I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stole outta Gringott's- I suppose yeh already worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy"

"Where exactly did you get Fluffy?" Merlin asked and Arthur hit Merlin in the back of the head muttering "Dad would never let us have a three headed dog"

Hagrid smiled at this then turned back to Hermione when she said "Come on Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here. And really we wanted to know who had _done _the guarding. Who, besides you that Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him"

Smiling broadly behind his bushy beard Hagrid said "Well, I don' s'pose it could ter tell yeh that…let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout- Professor Flitwick- Professor McGonagall- Professor Quirrell" Merlin had to struggle not to groan when Hagrid said that "Dumbledore did somethin' o' course… an' ah, Snape"

The rest of the kids were not as quiet about their disturbance at hearing their suspect called out in the list of teachers protecting the Stone, groaning about Snape.

Hagrid of course did not understand why everyone was upset about Snape being one of the teahcers until Harry explained his theory and he told them that they were being ridiculous "Snape's trying to protect the Stone, he wouldn' steal it".

Merlin agreed with this, but he wondered what Hagrid would say if he told him his own theory about who was after the Stone. Finally Hagrid had gotten them all to stop arguing about Snape, though it was obvious they were all still thinking it, not including him which got him a strange look from Hagrid which he ignored.

They were still sitting there, not ready to go back to the castle when Harry asked what Merlin had noticed, but not thought about "Hagirid, can we open a window, it's boiling in here"

"Can't Harry, sorry" Hagrid said with a glance back at the fire, which more than one person noticed.

"What is _that?"_ Harry asked.

"Ah… that's er" Hagrid said looking sheepish.

"Where did you get it Hagrid, it must have cost you a fortune?" Ron asked looking at the large black egg sitting under a kettle in the heart of his fire.

"A dragon egg, wow" Merlin said stepping closer.

"Won it in a game a' cards with a stranger at the pub last night. He seemed to be glad to be rid o' it actually"

"What're you going to do with it when it hatches?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Well, I've been doin' some research see…" Hermione looked ready to scream and Merlin looked ready to laugh.

"Can we come back when it hatches?" Merlin asked turning to look at Hagrid, excitement clear in his eyes.

Hagrid, sensing a kindred spirit, nodded saying "I'll be sure to send yeh a letter, yer all invited o' course" Merlin looked incredibly happy and Hermione looked like she could not come up with the words to explain just how bad of an idea this was.

The next few days passed with extra homework and harder classes, and for Merlin- a growing excitement for what lay in the nearby future. Two days after visiting Hagrid, Hedwig delivered Harry a note with two words _It's hatching_.

Ron, Merlin, and Gwaine were all for skipping class to watch the hatching, but Hermione was having none of it "We could get in trouble, we could get Hagrid into trouble, what do think would happen if he was found with a baby _that_?"

Merlin knew she was right, but he was still very excited, too excited to really notice the way Draco seemed to stiffen when he heard what Hermione had been saying.

They decided to go during morning break, after Herbology. All six ran down to Hagrid's hut just as the bell rang, all able to agree that it was something you would not normally get to see.

"It's almost out" Hagrid said happily as they knocked on his door and he let them in. They crowded around his small table where the quivering egg sat, rocking back and forth, small noises coming from the inside.

Slowly, a spider web of cracks burst across its surface, a small figure, pushing at the break, just coming out into the light. The tiny limp creature wriggled its way out of the hardened shell that had so previously been its home, walking onto the wooden surface of the table, chirping as it took in its new surroundings.

"_It's beautiful" _Hagrid said happily to the disbelieving looks of five of the kid sitting around the table, but Merlin knew his face resembled the happy look he could see on Hagrid's.

Hagrid held his hand out to the hatchling, only to have it snap at his fingers as he cried "It knows its mummy!"

Merlin was not too sure about Hagrid's interpretation of the hatchling's motives behind snapping at his hand, but he did not really care either.

The small beast turned and trained its beady eyes on Merlin, furling its wings and chirping "I think she's hungry"

His friends turned to stare at him, looking like he had two heads or suddenly turned a weird shade of blue until Hagrid gave an "Oh no"

They all turned to see what the problem was, noticing one of his curtains had opened slightly, and through it they saw the retreating back of Draco Malfoy. Oh-no indeed he thought as he looked back into the eyes of the clueless, innocent young dragon.

The six friends grew increasingly nervous as Malfoy kept his smug smile in place over the next week, though he had yet to tell. Harry, Ron, and Merlin had went down to Hagrid's hut, with the intention of talking some sense into him.

As soon as Merlin say down, the small dragon lept onto his lap and curled in a ball, obviously not intending to move. Merlin slowly stroked its scales along its spine, careful not to disturb its wings.

"Hagrid, Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any time, you have to let it go"

"I can't just dump 'em, he's just a baby, he'd die. Besides, I've decided to name him Norbert" Merlin saw the dragon open one eye sleepily and look at him in what was clearly an annoyed way and he cooed under his breath so the others could not hear "Don't worry, you are very beautiful, and any of your own species would be able to tell right away what a beautiful girl you are" the dragon let out a content purr and settled down more comfortably on Merlin's lap.

"Charlie" Harry said looking at Ron"

"Now you've lost it too- my name's Ron" he said.

"No, your brother Charlie- in Romania, he works with dragons, we could send Norbert to him"

Ron's eyes lit up "I can send him a letter, what about it Hagrid"

Hagrid looked sad, but finally gave in, if Charlie agreed to take him. Merlin reluctantly moved the growing dragon off his lap, to her immense annoyance. He could see she wanted him to stay and pet her until she fell asleep, but he had to get back to the castle before someone realized they were gone.

Over the next week, Ron had written his letter that night, Merlin and Ron would trade off going down to Hagrid's to help with the dragon. Harry and Gwaine had offered, but every time Gwaine came near Norbert, she would start spewing fire and trying to fly, destroying Hagrid's hut in the process. Harry would cause her to hide under anything she could, Hagrid insisting she was shy- and Merlin could not help but agree.

Hermione and Arthur, though they wanted to help, were too intimidated by Norbert to really be much of a help. When they tried to feed her, she would sense their hesitation, and aim for their hands, making them drop the food. Finally Hagrid had to tell them that he appreciated their trying, but Norbert was just not taking to them.

Wednesday night, Merlin and Ron came back from Hagrid's hut, Ron cradling his hand to his chest, burn holes decorating his robes, Merlin however had only small holes where Norbert had held onto his clothes for support.

"It bit me" Ron complained loudly, showing his swelling hand. Merlin had told him he should go to the hospital wing, but Ron refused, scared she would recognize a dragon bite.

To most of their relief, Charlie's reply came in that nights, saying four of his friends were passing over Hogwarts on Saturday night, and they could pick Norbert up. They had to meet in the middle of the night at the top of the astronomy tower though, so that no one would see them with the dragon. They sent a hasty reply saying that they could do it.

The next day, Ron's hand had swollen to twice its size and turned a horrible shade of green. He finally decided that he should go to the hospital wing and did just that.

After classes, the five of them, Ron still in the hospital wing, went down to tell Hagrid their plan. He was clearly upset, but he agreed, asking them to leave so he could spend some time with Norbert.

They went back up to castle, and decided to visit Ron, who had bad news for them. Malfoy had come to gloat earlier, telling Madam Pomfrey he had come to borrow a book, and taking one so that she would not get suspicious. What Ron said next was even worse, the letter from Charlie had been stuck inside the book, and he was sure Malfoy would find it.

Harry was upset, but he decided it was too late to change the plan, Charlie's friends would be there Saturday night, and they had to get Norbert away from Hogwarts.

Harry decided that he and Merlin would take Norbert under his invisibility cloak- which Harry had to tell Arthur and Gwaine about. They decided Merlin should go because, for whatever reason, he had a calming effect on the young dragon, which they would definitely need tonight.

Gwaine and Arthur volunteered to try and lead Malfoy away from them, in the likely case that he would be trying to get them in trouble. Hermione insisted she go with them, wanting to help in some way since she had been unable to help Hagrid take care of the dragon.

Saturday night finally came, and Harry and Merlin made their way to Hagrid's hut under the invisibility cloak. Hagrid had Norbert ready to go, telling Harry and Merlin about how he had made Norbert's box comfortable for the dragon's journey. They quickly made their way back up to the castle Hagrid telling the dragon he would never forget it.

With the dragon between them, it took some time to make it to the top of the tower, though, thankfully they did not run into any trouble. They did see Malfoy trying to tell McGonagall about what they were up to, and seeing it as a stupid lie, McGonagall gave the boy detention and told him to go back to bed.

Laughing about Draco's bad luck, the two boys carried the crate up to the astronomy tower where they were to meet Charlie's friends. They did not have to wait too long, just enough time for Merlin to whisper his own goodbyes to the small dragon.

Finally the four boys came and hooked the dragon securely between their four broomsticks. They thanked the boys and took off.

The two boys made their way back down the steps, both smiling at their successful mission only to have their smiles melt off their faces when they reached the bottom.

There stood Filch, standing behind him in shame, Arthur, Gwaine, and Hermione "Well, well, well" the caretaker said gleefully "we are in trouble"

Too late, the boys realized they had left the invisibility cloak upstairs.

**AN: Please review! I want to know what you think, should I do a sequel? Do you want me too? Do you like the story? Let me know.**


	15. Chapter 15

They sat down in the row of seats McGonagall had conjured in front of her desk, her narrow eyes staring down at them with pent up fury.

"Six students out of bed in one night- five of them Gryffindor's- what do you have to say for yourselves".

Merlin looked around at his friends, trying to see what was going through their minds, his currently being blank from shock. Gwaine, who was sitting next to him, was leaning back in his chair, obviously not bothered by being interrogated by McGonagall if the small smile on his face was anything to go by.

Hermione, who was next to Gwaine, looked close to tears, and clearly unable to say anything. He knew how much her education meant to her, and he felt bad they had gotten her into this.

Arthur, sitting on her other side looked ill at ease. He was not worrying, but he did not look comfortable- probably thinking about Uther would take hearing his son was walking around after hours helping in the freeing of a baby dragon.

Harry, who was on Merlin's other side looked ashamed, though Merlin could hardly fathom why. They had helped Norbert on her way to a better home- who knew what would have happened if Draco had gotten Hagrid caught with the little creature. He personally- finally regaining his feelings- felt that they had accomplished a great deed, though he tried not to let that show on his face, not wanting to anger McGonagall further.

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious what you were doing. You fed Draco Malfoy a cock-and-bull story about a dragon to lure him out of bed and get him into trouble- I've already caught him. Then I suppose that was not good enough, and you intended to pull some kind of prank on him" she said looking around at the five students.

Merlin noticed as Gwaine's lips turned up in a brighter smile and he sat up straighter "You caught us Professor- or me at least, that was always my motivation"

McGonagall looked even angrier than before "I can believe it of you Mr. Belby, but not you Miss Granger" she said turning to look at a quivering Hermione.

"Your right, she wasn't a part of it. She found out what we were doing and was trying to convince us not to, said we'd get caught" Gwaine snorted at the irony "she was still nagging us when we went out of the portrait hole, and was too caught up in it she didn't notice she followed us right out, the portrait closed behind her. The fat lady was to heavily asleep for her to let Hermione back in" Gwaine explained. Merlin had to admit, the way he had said it, so confidently, he had a hard time not believing it happened that way, and he knew the truth.

"And why didn't she come directly to me with this information?" McGonagall asked, not easily fooled.

"I blackmailed her, said I would pin everything on her" Gwaine answered

"And now you're defending her?"

"I lied, I'm too honorable to do that to a lady. Lie to her, yes, pin my own doing on her, no" he answered as if it was the only reasonable conclusion.

"Miss Granger, is this true?" McGonagall asked looking at the bushy haired girl who just nodded mutely, still not trusting her voice. "Well then… that does not explain why the rest of you were out of bed"

"I was working with Gwaine Professor, I was going to help him prank Malfoy, just like you said" Arthur said, saying the lie as though it were the truth, and for all Merlin knew, they were planning to prank the little git.

McGonagall nodded, it made sense, Filch had found those three together. She then turned to Merlin and Harry, those angry eyes making Merlin want to shrink back in his seat, though he did not let himself.

"What about the two of you?" She asked.

"We were the bait" Merlin answered, the lie coming easily to his lips "Draco was meant to be trying to get me and Harry into trouble, while Arthur and Gwaine got Malfoy in trouble while me and Harry got away".

"Yeah, we let it slip where he could hear us about the fake dragon, making plans to get rid of it. He took the bait pretty quickly" Harry added.

McGonagall shook her head "you should know better, all of you" she looked at each of them in turn "you will be serving a detention, I'll tell you when. For now, both Pendragon's and Mr. Potter will have taken thirty points from Gryffindor. Mr. Belby will have taken forty for blackmailing Miss Granger, and she will have taken twenty. Now, off to bed" she did not give them time to complain.

Over the next week, Merlin and his friends became the most unpopular kids in their house- though he had to admit, losing that one hundred and fifty points for Gryffindor was a big blow. They were now in last place for the house championship and everyone knew who to blame.

Harry took most of the blame, being the most famous out of them, though they were all being ignored. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed to themselves more, and mostly worked on homework. Merlin, Gwaine and Arthur did mostly the same, though the Weasly twins would still let Gwaine in on their pranks.

Friday morning, as they were eating breakfast, each of the five Gryffindor's received a letter telling them they would meet Filch in the Entrance Hall at eleven to serve their detention. No one objected, it would not have made any difference.

* * *

Eleven o' clock finally came around, and the five students walked down to the Entrance Hall together where Filch and Malfoy were waiting. Malfoy looked annoyed and as much of a prat as usual, while Filch looked thrilled at the thought of punishing kids.

"Follow me" the older man said lighting a lamp and leading them out of the castle.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking…." Merlin tuned the man out, taking in the grounds of Hogwarts at night. It looked different covered in shadows and moonlight, but still familiar, still safe.

"Is that you Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started" Merlin head Hagrid shout from his hut, which he had just realized they were walking towards.

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again boy" Filch said to Harry "it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll come out in one piece" Merlin wanted to roll his eyes at the man's attempt at scaring them.

"The forest?" Malfoy repeated and Merlin did roll his eyes- there was no way Dumbledore would let them go in there if he thought Hagrid would be unable to protect them. "We can't go in there at night- there's all sorts of things in there- werewolves, I heard".

"That's your problem isn't it?" Filch said his voice cracking with glee. "Should have thought of the werewolves when you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

"Abou' time" Hagrid said having walked up to meet them, Fang at his side "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right you lot?" he asked the Gryffindor's, Malfoy pouting next to Filch. Merlin did not pay attention much as Hagrid said a few more words with Filch and argued with Malfoy about why he had to do this.

"Right then" he said getting Merlin's attention "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

"Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground?" he said pointing to the beginnings of a small trail at the edge of the forest "Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it ou' of its misery" at Hagird's words, Merlin could not help but look at Arthur.

In his brother's place, a young man that looked very similar to him, wearing shining chainmail, and holding a crossbow that had just been released was standing there. He had a triumphant smile plastered on his face, and when Merlin turned to see what the young man was looking at, he saw a unicorn, lying on the forest floor, a cross bolt sticking out of its chest.

Shaking his head, his eyes focused on the normal Arthur, his Arthur. No one noticed his short lapse, and he did not want to mention it.

"All right, we'll be splittin' up into three groups to follow the different trails. There's blood all over so it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least".

"I want Fang" Malfoy said immediately.

"All right" Hagrid said easily "but jus' so yeh know he's a coward. Harry and Hermione will be with me. Draco has Fang, Gwaine can go with yeh. Then that leaves the Pendragons" He pointed which way each group was meant to go, and told them that if anyone found the unicorn to send green sparks into the air, and if anyone got into trouble to send red sparks, making them all try it with their wands before sending them on their way.

The forest was dark and they could hear sounds coming from the branches, bushes twitching, leaves rustling. The trail of silver blood was the brightest thing in the forest, and it kept making Merlin think of what he had seen, Arthur standing over a dead unicorn, triumph etched onto his face.

"How long do you think Gwaine and Malfoy are going to last?" Arthur asked as they walked along the trail.

The night was lit up by red sparks shooting into the air behind them. "About that long" Merlin replied cheekily.

Arthur rolled his eyes saying "we'd better find them before they kill each other"

"You mean Gwaine kills Malfoy?" Merlin asked, completely sure Gwaine could take the Slytherin with no trouble.

"Maybe we should take our time" Arthur joked, agreeing with Merlin. They made their way back to where they had seen the sparks, Hagrid and the others arriving moments later, Hagrid looking worried "What's wrong!"

"This idiot!" Malfoy shouted "he keeps tripping me, howling like a madman, then he lept off the trail and I couldn't find him, only for this thick idiot to grab me from behind, I nearly killed him" Merlin, Gwaine and Arthur all laughed, and Hagrid fumed.

"Tha's enough. After all the noise the two of yeh've made, we'll probably ne'er catch wha's bin killin' these unicorns. We're switchin' groups. Gwaine, yeh'll be with me an' Hermione, I can' trust yeh to be outa my sight. Malfoy can keep Fang, an' Arthur, maybe yeh can keep 'em in line. Tha' leaves Harry an' Merlin. Don' yeh two try an' be heroes, yeh find something, send the sparks and wait on us"

They all nodded and split into their knew groups, each going down their own paths.

It seemed darker to Merlin, though there was more blood as they walked further into the forest. It was shining with the moonlight which was trying its hardest to make its way through the branches.

"There's so much blood" Merlin finally said, Harry did not say anything back. They were both thinking the same thing, there was no way it could still be alive, not after losing this much blood. They walked for a long time, deeper into the forest, the trees becoming so thick you could hardly see the trail.

Harry held his arm out to stop Merlin, pointing in front of them where the trees let out into a small clearing. Merlin saw something white laying on the ground, around it something shining into the air. The two boys inched closer to clearing, being careful.

It was the unicorn, lying dead on the cold the ground, its silvery blood pooling under its once beautiful body which still glowed in the moonlight. Again, Merlin saw the unicorn from his vision, lying so much like this one was now, except it was during the day, and there was a cross bolt sticking out of its chest- fired by Arthur.

Still in the shadows of the trees, the boys watched as a man with a long dark cloak stepped onto the clearing, gliding over fallen limbs and leaves. They watched as he stopped by the unicorn, knelt, and bent his head to where the blood was leaking out of its body.

Merlin did not mean too, but it was too horrible, he let out a very audible gasp. The creature looked right to them, swiftly standing back up and moving toward them. Merlin was just about to run when Harry let out the loudest scream the boy had ever heard, clutching his head- his scar- and falling to his knees in pain. The dark figure was still moving closer.

Kneeling down, trying to help his friend up so they could get away from this creature, he saw there was no way the boy was getting up, certainly not before the creature made it to them, so instead he turned to the figure, one hand on Harry's shoulder, whether to give him comfort, or to give himself some, he was not sure.

"What have you done to him?!" He called out feeling very stupid, he couldn't think of anything better.

It was no surprised the figure did not answer, instead stopping for only a moment, a slight hesitation, before slowly gliding toward them again "Stay away from us, I'm warning you"

_Oh that was even worse, I'm surprised it's not rolling on the ground for how stupid I sound_ Merlin thought to him as it glided, far too close for comfort "I said STAY AWAY!"

He felt the familiar rush of power run through him, the heat behind his eyes. He felt the power explode out of him, like a powerful gust of wind that hit the creature right in the chest sending him back across the clearing into a tree.

Merlin was too surprised to realize Harry had stopped screaming for now. Too stunned to notice the cloaked figure getting up again, or how Harry was still clutching his head. He had just thrown someone across a clearing, with magic, that did not require a wand, or a spell. It was amazing and scary at the same time.

When Harry started screaming again, Merlin noticed the figure was coming toward them once more, at a much more motivated pace, and if he was not mistaken, it had a wand in its hand.

_Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no, c'mon, c'mon, do it again, do it again_ he felt himself panicking, fear taking over his body, paralyzing it to the point he could not even fall to the ground the way Harry had. He was stuck standing there, watching the menacing figure raise his wand, and not knowing what it intended to do.

Hoof beats. Merlin could hear the racing of hoof beats over the forest floor, coming closer very fast. At first, somewhere in his confused mind, he imagined it was another unicorn, and he wanted to yell at it to stay away from the creature. He would kill it and drink its blood, just as it had done to the one before.

Instead, the beast that lept straight over his head, was a centaur, half horse, half man. He had never seen one, but it was hard not to come to that conclusion. He saw the beast rear on its hind legs, kicking out at the cloaked creature, making it back up. Again the horse legs kicked out, stomping towards the creature, making him turn and flee, though Merlin was sure it gave both him and Harry a regretful glance, as though it had not finished with its fun.

The centaur righted itself down onto its four hooves, and looked remorsefully down at the unicorn. Harry moaned and took his hand away from his face sitting up. The centaur made its way over to the two boys.

"Are the two of you okay?" he asked in soothing voice, like talking to a frightened dog. Merlin felt himself nod, his mind still not back from its shock.

"Yes- we're alright- what _was_ that thing?" Harry said standing back up with the centaurs help.

The centaur did not answer, instead looking at Harry's scar "You are the Potter boy. You should get back to Hagrid" then he turned to Merlin and bowed, making both Harry and Merlin look at each other with confused expressions "My Lord, Emrys, you were very brave, but I regret you had to show your powers to him" he then focused on Harry again as well as Merlin "the forest is not safe at this time- for either of you. Can you ride? It would be quicker".

"Are you sure, I don't feel like most centaurs let humans ride them" Merlin said just as Harry took a step toward the bowed centaur.

"You're right, most do not. For me however, it will be an honor to give the two of you a ride to safety, you may get on. My name is Firenze by the way" Merlin nodded, and mounted the centaurs back, sitting behind Harry.

Just then, the sound of more hoof beats announced the presence of two more centaurs. "Firenze, what are you doing, you have humans on your back"

"They need to get to safety" he replied easily. "This is the Potter boy and Lord Emrys"

This stopped the two centaurs where they stood, and they looked at Merlin. "Did he ask you to let them ride?" asked the dark haired one.

"No, he did not want to shame me by riding, but I insisted. He was forced to use his powers to save himself and the Potter boy against _it_".

The older centaur shook his head regretfully "I had wished he would not know of him for some time".

"Get them to Hagrid" the dark haired centaur said looking directly at Merlin. He could see the shame it caused his pride to say this, but he also saw fear in his eyes, something to do with him and that creature. Firenze nodded and took off into the forest, Harry and Merlin hanging on with everything they had.

"Why was Bane so angry at first, and what was that thing you saved us from?" Harry asked making Firenze slow down to a walk though he stayed quiet for a while. They continued walking through the dark forest, the trees slowly growing thinner so that they could see farther off than before.

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" Firenze asked the two boys.

"No" Harry answered "we've only used the horn or tail hairs in Potions".

"That is because it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price"

"A curse?" Merlin asked.

Firenze nodded "To slay something so pure and defenseless to save yourself, you would have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips"

"But who'd be that desperate?' Harry asked "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else- something that will bring you back to full strength and power- something that will mean you can never die. Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course- the elixir of life! But I don't understand who-"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

"Do you mean that was _Vol-"_

"Harry, Merlin!" They heard Hermione calling as she ran toward them, Gwaine next to her and Hagrid coming up behind them. "Are you all right?"

"We're fine" Merlin said swinging off the centaurs back. "The unicorn is dead though… its body is in the clearing back there"

"This is where I leave you. I hope you stay safe" he gave Merlin a small tilt of his head and ran off back into the forest.

* * *

When they got back to the common room, they found Ron on one of the chairs, fast asleep. They wasted no time in waking him up and then Hermione making Harry tell them what happened. Merlin let him tell the story.

He told them everything that he had seen, which Merlin was happy did not include the use of his magic to blow _the _Voldemort across a clearing.

"Then the centaurs said it was okay to give us a ride, since _Emrys _needed to get to safety, I really didn't understand that, did you?" he asked turning to Merlin.

"I have no idea" he said truthfully, though he did know every time they had said that name, they had looked at him expectantly.

"Anyway, so then Firenze told me that the Stone can bring Voldemort back from the dead… which means Snape is helping Voldemort… and he's going to give him the stone"

"Stop saying the name" Ron whined, and even Gwaine winced a little when Harry said it.

"We don't have any real proof about Snape" Merlin said.

"He's tried to kill me" Harry argued.

"Dumbledore wouldn't believe that though, how are we supposed to get him to believe one of his trusted teachers is working for Voldemort?" Merlin reasoned.

"I don't know" Harry admitted.

"Look, even if Voldemort came back, everyone says the only one you-know-who was scared of was Dumbledore. As long as he's here, he can't get to you" Hermione said trying to cheer him up. Harry had to agree with her, but he still looked worried.

Arthur and Gwaine both looked upset, the thought of a crazy murder having been in the woods with them, and the possibility that he might come back from the dead soon was having some effect on them. The sun was coming up when the six friends stopped talking and went up to bed.


	16. Chapter 16

At long last, it was time for the exams. The school became horribly hot as Spring came along, and everyone was ready for the end of term. Nights were spent studying, while days were spent on each exam.

Some were written exams, others more practical. Professor Flitwick called in students one at a time to make a pineapple dance across his desk for his exam- one Merlin did exceptionally well on. McGonagall had her students to turn a mouse into a snuffbox, points given for how decorative it was, and taken if it still had whiskers.

History of Magic, with Professor Bins- their ghostly teacher- was an question and answer exam about old wizards that had made it onto the Professor's curriculum. After that they would have a week to themselves as they waited on their exams to be graded.

Merlin felt relatively sure he had passed that exam as well, though he doubted it was with flying colors. Arthur and Gwaine were both sure they had failed it and kept complaining about how they did not want to spend another year not listening to the same lectures.

"Mr. Pendragon" Snape said as the three boys were just walking out of the castle to spend some time in the sun.

All three boys spun around to stare at the hook nosed teacher, Arthur, assuming the man was talking to him answered "yes Professor?"

"The younger Pendragon" Snape clarified.

"Is it about my exam Professor?" Merlin asked. Snape's was the only exam he had felt that he might fail. He knew that the man was not as bad as his friends thought, but he was still a harsh grader.

"I would like to see you a moment, if you can tear yourself away from your friends for a moment" he added as he saw Gwaine and Arthur move closer to Merlin. Merlin also noticed this and took a step away from them.

"Of course Professor" Merlin said quickly before the two boys could say anything "I'll find you guys later, okay?"

He walked after Snape without waiting for an answer, following the man into an empty classroom. "What did you want to talk to me about Professor?" Merlin asked when Snape closed the door.

"Potter, has he been snooping anymore into the matter with the Stone?" He asked bluntly.

Somewhat taken aback Merlin answered "We know who wants it now. Voldemort"

Snape looked furious "Don't say his name! Why do you think it's the Dark Lord?"

"When we served detention with Hagrid, Harry and I found a dead unicorn and a man in a dark cloak drinking its blood. Whatever it was made Harry's scar burn. Then a centaur rescued us and implied to us that it was Vol- you-know-who"

"The Dark Lord isn't alive" Snape said shaking his head.

"He was there" Merlin assured "though Firenze said he was on the brink of death. Professor… they think you are trying to help _him_ get the Stone"

Snape looked furious for a moment, but it quickly dissolved into acceptance "It doesn't matter what they think of me"

"Why did you ask if he was still looking?" Merlin asked.

"Quirrell's been acting strange today. More aggravated today, like he has somewhere to be… I think he'll make his move tonight, and I don't want any of you to get involved. If he is working with the Dark Lord, then he is even more dangerous than I originally thought, especially to Potter".

"You have to tell Dumbledore, you can't let Quirrell get the Stone!" Merlin said.

"I have no proof! Besides, Dumbledore has been called away on Ministry business" Sanpe said dismissively.

"You're sure Quirrell is going to move tonight, and you let Dumbledore _leave_" Merlin said incredulously.

"I didn't let him, and there was nothing I could do to convince him to stay, besides, Quirrell still has to get through that beast of Hagrid's and my own bit of protection".

"There's always a chance" Merlin argued.

"Which is why I am warning you to stay out of it, my first priority as a teacher at Hogwarts is to protect its students, whether I like them or not. I will be watching Quirrell, you just make sure you and your friends stay away" Snape warned before leaving the room with a swirl of his robes.

"What's with him and dramatic exits?" Merlin asked himself as he too, left the room, much more normally than Snape had done.

* * *

Merlin walked outside to see students grouped all around the castle, sitting with friends and enjoying the weather. He saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron and even Morgana laughing with the Malfoy siblings, the blonde witch talking the most, but he did not see Arthur and Gwaine.

Spotting Alicia Spinnet sitting with some of the other Gryffindor Quidditch players, he walked over "Hey Alicia"

"Merlin" she said somewhat coolly. The major loss of points had mostly blown over, though they were still behind Slytherin meaning Merlin was not on the best of terms with his house mates.

"Hi, I was wondering if you've seen Arthur or Gwaine around, we were supposed to meet out here" he said nervously.

"I think they went to the common room. Said something about getting the chess board or something" she answered still cold and brief with her response.

"Thanks Alicia" he said and made his way back toward the castle. He sent a glance over his shoulder at Harry, Ron and Hermione, trying to see if they were doing anything suspicious. He knew he could not tell them what Snape had said. They would think the man was trying to trick them and that _he _was going to steal the stone tonight. More than likely he would be encouraging them to get into trouble.

Instead, he decided to find Arthur and Gwaine and then meet up with the others. Hopefully he could keep their minds off the Stone and away from Snape.

He saw the three running down to Hagrid's and sighed. They were just going to visit a friend; they were not thinking about the Stone, there was nothing to worry about.

Merlin continued on his way to the common room, going back into the castle and up the steps. He was taking them two at a time, wanting to find his friends; Snape's warning was still replaying itself in his head. He would feel better once he knew his friends were staying away from the matter.

"Mr. Pendragon" Merlin stopped, ice running through his veins. He had to turn around, but he was scared that everything he knew would show on his face. Taking a deep breath, Merlin turned to face the person who had just called his name.

"Professor?" Merlin asked thankful his voice sounded normal as he looked directly into Quirrell's eyes. There was something different about them today. They were not as hesitant or shifty. They stared directly back into Merlin's, and he was _smirking_.

_Not Good!_ Merlin thought to himself, ready to turn and run, though he knew that would give him away if the man did not already know he knew.

"I wondered if I could have a word, it's about your exam" he said without a single stutter. _He so stole my excuse for Snape!_

"Uh, is it important, Arthur and Gwaine were waiting on me, I'm pretty sure it was important" Merlin said lamely, he was refusing a teacher because his first year friends had something important to tell him?

"I'm sure they'll still be there when we're done" _was that amusement in his eyes?_

"Really Professor, I'm sure-"

"I _insist_, Mr. Pendragon" Quirrell said pointing his wand at the boy who was thinking words a boy his age should not use "_Imperio_"

**AN: What'd you think? I enjoy reviews by the way- just so you know.**


	17. Chapter 17

Merlin found himself trapped in his own body, able to know what he was doing, what was going on around him, but unable to do anything about it. Quirrell walked up next to him and then Merlin felt his feet begin to move, keeping pace with the Professor. They did not meet anyone- all the students were spending their time outside, the teachers busy grading exams. Even if they had though, nothing would have seen out of place.

Merlin struggled against the hold the man had on his mind, trying to resist the commands he sent to him. He did not want to turn down this hallway, walk up those stairs. He really did not want to open that door, or stand still as Fluffy barked at him.

Then, the sound of a harp being played, he could not turn to see where it was coming from, but he did see how the dog's six pairs of eyes drooped, and its shoulders relaxed. Slowly it lowered its body to the ground, snoring before it had even made it all the way.

He had no control as his body moved around the giant paw, and stopped in front of the trap door, he could do nothing but obey when the voice whispered in his mind _open the door and jump in_. Merlin's body did as it was bid, landing on something soft, Quirrell landing more gracefully on his feet and walking over to a wall, saying a spell that produced a warm light from the tip of his wand as he walked.

As Merlin moved after him, he saw dark plant-like tendrils curling away from the light of the man's wand. _Devil's Snare_ he told himself _this must be Madam Sprouts defense_.

They walked forward, Merlin a few steps behind the increasingly terrifying man who was still wearing that ridiculous turban.

Arthur was worried, too worried to deny that he was worried. Merlin had not been at diner, neither had Snape. There was this feeling in his stomach, like he was going to be sick but worse. Gwaine was pale and quiet, not a good sign.

Seeing Harry and his friends, Arthur rushed over, Gwaine right next to him. They all looked up at him, worry on their faces as well.

"Merlin's missing" Arthur deadpanned.

"What do you mean missing?" Hermione asked, likely about to recite something from Hogwarts, a History about why that was impossible.

"We mean, the last time we saw him was right after the History exam, with Snape, who wanted to talk to him, _alone!"_ Gwaine answered hurriedly.

"_Snape!"_ Hermione gasped.

"You let him go alone?" Ron asked.

Harry just paled and put his head in his hands "We're pretty sure he's planning to steal the Stone tonight".

Both Gwaine and Arthur were speechless, for the most part "We have to tell Dumbledore" Gwaine insisted.

"He's not here" Hermione moaned.

"Then we have to get him back here" Gwaine said.

"He thinks he's on official Ministry business, he won't be coming back for some story we send him" Harry said sadly.

"We have to something, he has _Merlin!_" Arthur exclaimed.

"I know!" Harry nearly shouted back. Arthur could see the stress the boy was under, and he was sorry he was blaming him, but he needed to help Merlin. "We've already decided to steal the Stone tonight, to keep Quirrell from getting it".

Arthur nodded "How are we getting past Fluffy?"

"We?" Harry asked.

"We aren't leaving Merlin" Gwaine answered putting a hand on Arthur's shoulder in a show of loyalty.

Harry nodded "the three of us were going to sneak down under my cloak, I would offer you to come along, but I don't think you'd fit"

"We'll follow behind- or in front, we won't know where you are, but we'll manage without the cloak" Arthur said determined.

That night, after the common room had emptied of people, Harry ran up to their room to grab his cloak. Harry came back down and the three of them were about to put the cloak on when someone stopped them.

"What're you doing?" asked Neville who had just stepped out of the shadows.

"Nothing Neville, nothing" Harry said quickly hiding the cloak behind his back.

"No, no we're not Neville. Why don't you go to bed?" Hermione asked.

"You can't go out. You'll get caught again and Gryffindor will be in even more trouble" Neville said moving to stand in front of the hole.

"Oh for the love of… move it Neville before I move you myself" Gwaine threatened.

"No, you told me to stand up for myself, well here I am, I'm not letting you get Gryffindor into any more trouble"

"I didn't mean stand up to _us_" Ron said exasperated while Harry turned to Hermione, begging her to do something.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" she said with a wave of her wand. Neville's body became stiff and he fell to the floor, only his eyes moving "That was teh Full-Body Bind. I'm really sorry about that Neville".

"We had to Neville, no time to explain" Harry said moving to the portrait.

"You'll understand later" Ron reassured heading after Harry.

"Nice try mate, keep working on that standing up to people thing, just never stand between me and something important" Gwaine said stepping over the bound boy.

"That was brave Neville, we'll let you go when we get back, promise" Arthur said stepping over him the same way Gwaine did, he did delay them from rescuing Merlin after all.

The hallways were mostly deserted along the way to the third-floor corridor. The only problem they had was when Peeves was blocking their way to the door. Arthur and Gwaine hid before the ghost could see them, and though Arthur did not know how, Harry managed to make the troublesome ghost disappear.

The trio then took off the cloak and the five students walked into the corridor where Fluffy was awake and waiting.

Three growling heads full of sharp teeth far to long for comfort, slowly started to become less aggressive as Harry began to play a flute he had brought along. Hermione had told them earlier that Hagrid had let it slip that the only way to make Fluffy sleep was to play music. Knowing this, he saw the abandoned harp lying under one of Fluffy's drooling muzzles.

"Snape's already been here" Hermione said.

"And Merlin" growled Gwaine.

Harry still playing the flute, Arthur walked over the giant dog's paws and opened the trapdoor, Gwaine asking him "What do you see?"

"Nothing, it's too dark" Harry made some kind of motion to Ron.

"You want to go first?" Ron interpreted and Harry nodded still playing. Gwaine offered his hand out for the flute and Harry quickly gave it to him, Gwaine starting up a very upbeat tune that kept the dog snoring.

"Don't come down unless I tell you it's safe, send an owl to Dumbledore" he looked at Ron to make sure he had heard it, the red- head nodding that he had. "Here goes"

He lowered himself into the trapdoor hanging by his fingers a moment before letting go. They waited a moment before they heard a faint "It's okay, it's a soft landing, you can jump".

Arthur nodded and jumped into the trapdoor, landing, as Harry had said, on something soft. The boy was a few feet across from him, looking up for the next person, who happened to be Ron. He landed with a thump near Harry.

"That wasn't so bad" he said just as Hermione fell through the entrance. When she landed she let out a small squeal and ran up to a wall Arthur had not noticed before. Before she could explain why she had screamed, they heard the music stop, and a second later, the thump of another body landing next to them.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked and Arthur looked down at himself.

"What is this!" he screamed, finally noticing the plant like creeper winding itself around his body, already having trapped his legs.

The other boys finally looked down and started struggling against the dark plant "Stop struggling, it'll only kill you faster" Hermione warned.

"What do we do?" Gwaine asked.

"Let me think, Madam Sprout, what did she say- Devil's snare, it likes dark and damp places-…"

"Fire!" Arthur yelled pulling his wand hand, along with his wand, away from the creeping tendrils and sent a spell he had Hermione teach him, the one she had used on Snape the day of the Quidditch incident that produced blue flames.

"Of course" she echoed saying the same spell and freeing Harry and Ron while Arthur helped Gwaine. Arthur and Hermione kept the flames out as the boys ran across the plant, keeping any tendrils from tripping one of them and capturing him again.

They were panting once they had made it to the wall where Hermione was waiting Harry giving her a weak "thanks".

"Don't mention it" she replied "we need to keep going" they all nodded and walked down a stone passageway that was the only way forward.

They came up to a room with a high arched ceiling brightly lit with hundreds of jewel bright birds fluttering around the room. Their wings fluttered and flapped and whistled in the otherwise quiet passageway. Across the room was another door that led further on in the passageway.

"Do you think they'll attack if we try to cross the room?" Ron asked looking up at the birds.

"Probably" Gwaine replied looking up at them as well. Arthur looked around at the others, none looking as though they were about to try it.

"One way to find out" Arthur said before sprinting across the room, expecting the sting of needlelike beaks cutting into him the whole way. To his surprise however, he made it to the door in one piece, the birds having kept to their peaceful gliding.

He pulled on the handle, and called out what he found "Locked" adding under his breath "of course"

Harry walked over, but stopped in the middle of the room "Broomsticks?" he said pointing to four conveniently placed broomsticks lying against the wall. He started eyeing the birds before calling out triumphantly "They're not birds, their keys, one of them must fit the lock"

Arthur looked up, focusing more intently on the little birds to find Harry was right, then turned his attention back to the handle "It'll be old timey" he called out hoping the key would match the outside of the lock as well as the inside "big and silver"

Harry nodded and ran to grab a broom, Gwaine, Arthur and Ron behind him. Hermione, the weakest flyer out of them, stayed on the ground, watching as the four boys zoomed around, trying to find the right key.

"There!" Harry called pointing above him "It has a bent wing, someone's already caught it" Arthur's blood boiled. Who knew what was happening to Merlin right now, and that key was standing in his way.

He let his eyes follow Harry's arm toward where the key was stumbling around in the air, then took off, heading right for it. He did not however, expect the large key to move as fast as it did and ended up almost hitting the ceiling.

"We need to corner it" he called after righting himself "Harry, you play seeker, you're going to have to catch it" Arthur ordered, and as he hoped, the boy kept his eyes moving, staying on the target. "Ron, Gwaine, when I say so, fly toward the key, keep it from getting away, and Harry, catch it- three- two- NOW!"

The others did as he had said, he had been slightly worried about Gwaine, but it worked out. The key was cornered and Harry was able to catch it easily. They all landed and ran to the door, Harry jamming it into the hole and opening the lock. He spared them all a quick smile before opening the door and heading into their next challenge.

The room was dark, but when they stepped further in, it suddenly burst into light, torches along the wall lighting themselves.

"It's a…" Hermione was speechless.

"A chess board" Ron said for her "I bet we have to play to get across" he walked onto the board, looking at the black pieces which were closest to them "We must have to take the place of the pieces"

One of the chess pieces shifted its head and nodded at his theory "a-a-alright then… I'll take the knight's place. The corresponding piece came to life and dismounted his horse, leaving it for Ron to take as it left the board.

Gaining more confidence Ron instructed the others "Harry, take the place of that bishop and Hermione take over for that castle. Gwaine, the other knight, and Arthur take the King. Each person did as they were told then Ron addressed Arthur "You're the next best chess player, if you think I shouldn't do something, speak up" Arthur nodded and the game began.

The pieces slid across the board as Ron directed, the other side responding to his moves. Slowly, members of their side were lost, and as Ron directed them, the other side lost its own fair share of players. Only a few times did Arthur have to stop Ron from a move that left one of their friends open, and most of the time Ron had already caught the mistake.

Once the board had considerably less players than it had, Ron saw the wining move, but so did Arthur "Don't do it Ron"

He could see the others did not know what he was talking about yet "It's the only way, you can win after. You have to stop Snape, and you have to save Merlin" that was a harsh blow as the red head knew he was willing to go to great lengths to help Merlin.

"Ron, no!" Harry said catching on "you don't have to sacrifice yourself"

"What?!"Hermione screeched while Gwaine stayed silent. Maybe Arthur was wrong, maybe Gwaine had seen that was the next move as well. The boy gave Arthur a small nod and he closed his eyes.

"Ron's right, it's the only way. If we don't then we'll have to forfeit or even more of us will have to be sacrificed" Harry and Hermione looked to him stricken "this is larger than either of us. Larger than Merlin. We can't let Voldemort get his hands on that Stone, and this is the only way". Hermione shook her head but said nothing and Arthur nodded to Ron, telling him to go ahead.

Ron moved forward and the white queen swept her sword at him, knocking him to the ground. She drug his body off the board and turned back to face the others. Hermione screamed, but did not move.

"Harry, move three spaces to your right" Arthur instructed and Harry did so, the white king throwing his crown down at the boy's feet. They all ran to Ron, Harry making sure he was still breathing.

"I think he'll be okay" he said at last.

"We can't just leave him" Hermione said desperately and Arthur looked up at Gwaine who gave him another nod, this one of understanding.

"I'll take him back up to the castle, maybe now McGonagall will listen" Gwaine said pulling Ron's body over one of his shoulders, "you need to go on, save the world, save Merlin, I'll just sit out in sidelines again" he joked, but his face was serious.

"Take care of him" Harry said and Gwaine nodded before going out of the door the way they had come, Ron's limp body on his shoulders.

The other three made their own way through the other door, right into the foulest thing they had ever smelt. A troll lay on the ground, unconscious. Not wanting to delay any longer, they made no comment as they made their way around its body and to the door on the other side.

Once they had walked through this door, purple flames burst into existence blocking the door behind them, black flames blocking the one in front of them. They were trapped.

"Snape's" Harry said noticing seven different bottles standing on a table in the middle of the room, a piece of parchment beside them. Hermione picked up the parchment and read.

She quickly worked out the riddle, finding one potion that would let the drinker go through the black flames, moving forward, and the other through the purple, heading back the way they had come.

"There's only enough for one" Arthur said looking into the bottle that would allow them to go forward and Harry and Arthur looked at each other. Arthur saw the determination in Harry's eyes, how he was ready to take anything on to make this right and he sighed.

He held the bottle out to Harry, both him and Hermione shocked "What about Merlin?" Harry asked.

"That's why I'm giving this to you. My main objective this whole time was simply to rescue my brother. Even when I made that speech in the chess room, it was still Merlin I was focused on. That's not what this is about though. The whole wizarding community could be put in jeopardy if that man returns, and I'm scared if he offers me a chance to save my brother and let him go, that I would do it.

"You know the consequences, better than any of us. I'm sure you'll do everything you can to help my brother, but not at the expense of letting Voldemort back into this world. You know what is important, you are the one that needs to face him" Arthur explained.

Harry nodded and took the bottle from Arthur's hands "I'll do my best"

Hermione pulled Harry into a hug saying "Good luck".

He smiled at them both before approaching the door and downing the potion. He walked through the black flames that licked at his skin, but did not burn. He pushed open the heavy doors, and made his way into the next room.

Arthur looked over at Hermione "They'll be okay"

"I know" she answered still looking at the door.

"So which one of these gets us out of here?" Arthur asked looking over the bottles still sitting on the table.

**Next chapter back to Merlin's point of view, only three more chapters to go. Please Review!**


	18. Chapter 18

Merlin was finally able to control his body again, but he still could not move it. The moment Quirrell had let him go, he had conjured multiple ropes out of thin air, binding his feet and hands. The man had been walking around the strange mirror in the center of the room for some time.

He had made Merlin catch the key in the second room they went through, Merlin unsure of how he had been able to catch the key even with someone else in control of his body.

The third room went by very fast, the man an excellent strategist, he had taken down the other side of the chess set in only ten moves. Merlin expected however, he used some kind of charm that confused the other set of chessmen to make the game easier.

The room with the troll Merlin was unsure of what had happened. One second there was an angry troll charging at them, the next it was lying unconscious on the ground. Snape's room did not even pose as much of a challenge to the Wizard, he had simply scanned the paper and picked up the right potion- which tasted awful.

Now, Merlin simply sat watching as the man tried to figure out this last challenge that seemed to have something to do with the mirror.

The man had never explained why he had made Merlin come down here, what he planned to do. If he knew he could get away, it did not bother Merlin not knowing what his plan was, but seeing as he was sufficiently trapped, he was curious about what was in store for him.

Merlin was just working up the courage to ask Quirrell when the door to the room was pushed open "You!"

Quirrell turned to face Harry with gloating smile on his face, extending his arms "Me".

"But, Snape-"Merlin was too stunned to speak as Quirrell revealed everything to Harry.

"Snape" Quirrell laughed "yes he does seem the type doesn't he"

"But he tried to kill me" Harry argued.

"No, _I_ tried to kill you. A few more seconds and I would have had you off that broom, even with Snape casting that counter curse. Lucky for you Granger knocked me over when she went to distract Snape".

"But I saw you, in the forest…"

"I knew you were there, that's when I realized this one" he gestured to Merlin "knew about me"

"Merlin!" Harry called, about to run over to him.

"Not so fast" Quirrell said casually snapping his fingers, the same ropes that tied Merlin wrapping around Harry.

"Let him go!" Merlin shouted finding his voice again.

"Not yet" Quirrell answered. "I still have to figure out how to get the Stone" he said turning back to the mirror "it has something to do with this mirror, I'm sure of it".

"But Fluffy bit Snape, on Halloween…"

"Ah yes, I was worried you would see me sneaking a look at what was guarding the stone. Turns out I was worried about the wrong nosy student".

"You let the troll in?"

"Yes, I have a special affinity with trolls. I'm sure you saw what I did to the one in the chamber back there?" he said still circling the mirror.

"If you knew, why didn't you tell anyone?" Harry asked Merlin.

"I didn't have any proof" Merlin said back.

"No, but you did go to someone. I'm not sure when, but you went to Snape, I could see him focus on me more whenever you were around, like he wanted to protect you. Like he could do anything against me… especially when I have Lord Voldemort on my side…"

Quirrell faced the mirror again, looking into it "I see myself… I'm holding the stone… and I'm presenting it to my master…"

"Is that why you kidnapped Merlin, because he knew it was you after the Stone instead of Snape?" Harry asked, Merlin could see him shifting over, trying to get in front of the mirror. He could tell the boy had been trying to distract Quirrell, though he was very interested in hearing the man's answers as well.

"No, I knew he wasn't going to tell, Snape likely warned him against it. It was actually because of what happened in the forest".

"The forest- but you weren't …." Merlin trailed off then realization hit him. He remembered Morgana's vision and he knew what he had seen had been Voldemort, but it had also been Quirrell "oh my god…"

"You've figured it out?" he asked looking at Merlin curiously as he tried to move further away from the man. "How?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked quickly as Quirrell took a step towards an obviously terrified Merlin.

He looked back to Harry, which Merlin was incredibly grateful for, though he could not keep his eyes off the purple turban "So sorry Harry, I was distracted. I was the one drinking the unicorn blood for my master- don't interrupt!- I saw you fall to the ground in agony, and I saw your friend here stay by your side though I intended fully to kill you both. He tried to threaten me to leave; I didn't take it seriously of course. Then, he showed some of the most powerful magic I have ever seen. Old magic- wandless magic" Quirrell said in complete awe.

He turned to look at Merlin who was frowning now, confused. "I have only known of one other who was capable of such magic, and she is now in prison for being a faithful follower of my master, and even she did not have that much magic in her".

"That doesn't explain why you took Merlin" Harry said.

"Let me explain it to them" said a high pitched voice from where Quirrell was standing, and Merlin knew it was coming from under the turban.

"Master, you're still weak" Quirrell said.

"Let me speak to them" it demanded and Quirrell gave in, reaching up to unravel his turban. It was worse than Morgana had described. It was a pale creature with red eyes and a serpentine quality to it. Merlin wanted to run.

"Do you see what I have become Harry? This parasite that must live on another to survive- I have become this because of _you_. Tonight… when I finally have the Stone, I will regain my body… and my revenge. You will die here, by _my _hand. Then, I will take this boy… with his great power… I will regain my position in this world".

"I will not help you!" Merlin argued.

The horrible face of Voldemort laughed "do you forget already how easily I made you come down here?" Merlin's face paled at these words. He was right; he could not resist that spell.

"Quirrell, the Stone" the voice said.

"Master, I don't know how" Quirrell begged.

"Use the boy" it said and Quirrell looked over at Harry. He snapped his fingers and the ropes fell off of him.

"Look in the mirror, Potter" Quirrell demanded. Harry hesitantly made his way over to the mirror. He stared at his reflection a moment before Quirrell demanded "What do you see?"

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore, I-I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor" Harry said and Merlin was sure he could hear fear in his voice, though that was not surprising, he was amazed Harry could even walk, he was not too sure about himself.

Quirrell cursed. Quirrell pushed Harry out of the way, looking into the mirror himself. Merlin once again heard the high pitched voice "He lies"

"Tell me the truth" Quirrell demanded rounding on Harry "What did you see?"

When Harry did not answer, the voice spoke again "Tell him Harry, tell him that you have the Stone in your pocket!"

Harry sent a quick glance at Merlin before running. Merlin understood. He hoped Harry would get away, but he knew it would not happen.

"SIEZE HIM!" the voice yelled and Quirrell ran after Harry, grabbing him by the arm and turning him to face him, only to scream and drop Harry's arm.

"Master- I cannot hold him- my hands- my hands!" Quirrell clutched his hands to his chests, Merlin just able to see burnt tissue and welts covering them. Harry was still trying to get away.

"Use the other" the voice said then and everyone stopped, both boys looking at Quirrell as a malicious smile spread across his face. Taking his wand in one of his painful looking hands, he pointed it at the still bound Merlin.

"_Imperio_"

Merlin felt his body leave him again, felt the other presence that made him do as it wanted. He tried to fight, but that seductive voice made it so hard.

He felt the ropes that had been tying him down come loose. He felt his body stand on its own accord.

He felt that sweet voice wrap itself around his mind "_kill the boy"._

**Another cliffhanger, sorry (kinda), was that too predictable? Please Review**

**Only two more chapters to go!**


	19. Chapter 19

Merlin saw Harry's eyes go wide with fear, he could not be expected to duel a friend. Merlin felt the same, but he had little choice.

Merlin took out his wand and pointed it at Harry…

"The other kind" the high voice said. Harry felt his wand arm drop; instead, that heat behind his eyes that was accompanied by his strange power began to rise in him. He felt it behind his eyes, his pupils turning golden. Merlin raised his hand, a ball of electricity swirling in his palm.

_Now!_ He hurled the ball of energy straight at Harry's chest, the boy dodging to the side just in time. He stood crouched right in front of the mirror.

Voldemort's high pitched laughter rang out in the room as he said "even better than killing you with my own hands"

Merlin was struggling against the voice in his head, but it was doing no good. Another electric ball was forming in his palm.

He felt his arm tense, readying to throw the ball when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. It was him, but he was not ready to throw a deadly ball of energy at one of his friends. He was not being controlled by some evil servant of a somewhat dead evil maniac.

He was just Merlin, his eyes glowing gold, magic radiating from him, magic so beautiful he wanted to just stop and watch the mirror Merlin forever.

Somewhere in his mind, he noticed he had lowered his arm without flinging the electric ball at Harry. On some level he realized the voice that had been controlling him was gone. What he did know was that what he desired at that moment was to be able to use his magic the way he wanted to.

Finally he was brought out of his momentary lapse with the mirror to see Quirrell pinning Harry down with his knees, wand pointed at his throat, ready to curse him. Harry was trying to fight him off, pushing at his face with his hands.

Where Harry's hands touched, the flesh burned, making Quirrell grow angrier and more desperate with each second.

"Get off of him!" he heard himself shout, once again controlling his strange power to push Quirrell and Voldemort away from Harry. This time, instead of using him or just binding him, Quirrell sent a stunning spell at Merlin.

As he fell into unconsciousness, he saw Harry jumping onto Quirrell's arm and holding onto it as the both screamed in pain, then it was dark.

When he woke up, it was to sunshine leaking through a high up window against his face and a very loud squeal of "Merlin!"

"Hush, you'll make Madam Pompfrey kick us out" hissed another voice.

"Merlin, you in there mate?" he turned his head to see Gwaine, Arthur, and Morgana staring at him from where they were sitting on the hospital bed next to him.

"Ughh, what happened?" he asked picking himself up and resting his weight on his elbows.

"You got kidnapped by our possessed Defense teacher who wanted to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, and apparently you were saved by Harry" Morgana said.

"You make it sound like I was some damsel in distress" Merlin pouted.

The three kids just stared at him making Merlin let out a loud groan and fall back onto his mattress, burying his head in his hands. "Please tell me the teachers are keeping this a secret"

"They are" Gwaine admitted.

"But it's not working" Morgana replied "everyone's been talking about it, you should hear some of the stories about why they think he kidnapped you- it's horrible".

"I don't want to know, thanks" Arthur and Gwaine laughed.

"You'll be alright Merlin, they'll all forget about it over the summer, which starts in four days by the way, we get to go home for a while" Merlin tried to keep his smile from looking to much like a grimace.

"It looks like you're doing well Mr. Pendragon" said the long bearded. Half mooned glasses Headmaster of the school.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore" Merlin said.

"I thought you would be a little more concerned with what happened after you passed out down there" he said humorously. Merlin blanched, his face turning serious "Quirrell is dead, the Stone destroyed"

"Voldemort?" Merlin noticed Dumbledore's smile when he used the name.

"Still out there, still attempting to regain power, had Harry not been able to stop him until I arrived, I dare to think what might have happened. Both to our world and to you Mr. Pendragon. I have to admit, by the time I arrived, both of the people who could tell me why he was so interested in you were already unconscious".

Merlin looked somewhat frightened, and hesitated before he talked, but Dumbledore made him feel like it would be okay "I'm not really comfortable with people knowing anymore"

"I can understand that, after whatever this secret is, it put you through quite an experience"

"My magic, I can use it without a wand, and without an incantation" Merlin said slowly, still aware of his friends sitting on the bed next to them.

"There are some spells that require neither of those things" Dumbledore said.

"But I can use it for anything, and usually for spells with greater power than most spells performed with a wand" Merlin said, trying to get it into Dumbledore's head.

He looked thoughtful for a moment "Can you show me what you mean?"

Merlin nodded and sat back up in his bed, and held his hand out, palm up. He was thinking of fire, the heat it produced, and before he realized it, he had said a word "_Forbaernan"._

A single flame leaped into existence in his hand and he looked up at Dumbledore who was openly starring at the fire as though it were an interesting experiment "You said you did not spells?" he inquired.

"I've never said one for this kind of magic before, the word just came to me" he said quickly, closing his hand and extinguishing the flame.

"You were right to decide to keep it a secret. I suggest you only let those you know will never betray you know of your secret. Voldemort is not the only one in this world who would seek to use you for your powers".

Merlin nodded sadly and Dumbledore smiled kindly at him "Is there something else?"

"In the room, Voldemort was controlling me, I couldn't fight against it, he- he ordered me to k-k-kill Harry, and I was going to! Then, I saw my reflection in the mirror; it was me, but not me. His eyes were glowing gold, and magic was swirling all around him, the other magic, and he looked so happy. That's when I broke his hold over me".

"The mirror of Erised, it shows our greatest desires. Your greatest desire is to use your unique gift freely" he explained "once you realized that, I believe that power of yours helped you to overcome him".

"Thank you Professor" Merlin said as the man got up to leave. He nodded in return and walked away.

Merlin made his way down to the end-of-year feast with Arthur and Gwaine. When they went into the Great Hall, everyone stared at Merlin, all whispering something to their friends. He could feel his cheeks warm with color but he kept moving until he found a seat.

The Hall was decorated in Slytherin colors and they were being the loudest of the four tables.

The feast did not start until after Harry arrived, which was after everyone else. Merlin noticed that when they stared at him, there were no whispers, only silence. Harry quickly took his seat with Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore started his speech.

"Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were… you have the whole summer to get them nice and empty before next year starts…

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: Gryffindor in fourth with three hundred and twelve points, Hufflepuff in third with three hundred and fifty two points. Ranveclaw in second with four hundred and twenty six points, and Slytherin in first with four hundred and seventy two points"

The Slytherins cheered loudly until Dumbledore spoke again "I think some last minute points are in order. To Ronald Weasley, fifty points for the best game of chess I've seen played in a long time. To Miss Hermione Granger, fifty points for cool logic. To Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award sixty points" everyone was whispering now, they were tied with Slytherin "To Neville Longbottom, it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends, ten points. I think a change of color is in order" the overwhelming sound of clapping from three of the four tables was accompanied by the decorations of the Hall turning Gold and Red.

"There are a few more students that deserve to be recognized tonight. To Gwaine Belby for the bravery to know when you have to head back to help one friend when there are others to help the friend you were searching for, fifty points. To Arthur Pendragon, for outstanding loyalty, fifty points. Lastly, to Merlin Pendragon, for overcoming outstanding odds, sixty points" the room sounded like a bomb went off. They had went from being dead last to winning against Slytherin by one hundred and eighty points. Merlin could not remember having a better day in his life.

**AN: The electricity ball is supposed to be like what Nimueh used in the first series finally.**


	20. Chapter 20

The morning before the train was to leave for home, an owl dropped a letter onto Melrin's breakfast.

_Dear Mr. Merlin Pendragon,_

_My name is Gaius Davies, I was your mother's uncle. I have recently found out that you had been accepted at Hogwarts. I am very sorry I did not realize you would have received your father's gifts sooner, or else I could have helped you learn more about the Wizarding Community. _

_I would like the chance to meet you, perhaps there are still things I can help you with. I do know your adoptive father, and I know that your siblings have also been enrolled at the school, and I am excited to meet them as well._

_Please expect me to visit within three to five weeks. I am very busy at St. Mungo's hospital, it has been a busy year. I have some time scheduled off very soon and I intend to come meet you then. _

_With care,_

Gaius Davies

_Gaius Davies_

Merlin was surprised to say the least, though he was also curious. He wondered how the man knew Uther since Uther seemed to hate anybody with magic. He decided not to worry about it, he would meet the man when he came to visit.

The train ride home was less exciting than the one to Hogwarts, though it was more nauseating. Merlin was not looking forward to seeing Uther again, and time was moving far too fast for his liking. Before he knew it, they were back at King's Cross station, unloading their trunks and walking out of the barrier.

"Oh my boys!" he heard Mrs. Weasley trill as the Weasley's followed them out of the barrier "Harry, Merlin come here both of you".

Blushing, Merlin walked over to the woman only to pulled into a bone crushing hug "I heard what happened during term, are the two of you okay?"

"We're fine Mrs, Weasley" Harry assured her. She looked them both over, as though she would find some evidence otherwise. Merlin heard Harry's uncle call out to him and Mrs. Weasley bent down to them "I want you to know boys, you can come to me with anything, and I'll help you the best I can" she said sending harsh looks at their respective guardians who were waiting impatiently.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley, I really appreciate it" Merlin told her then said good bye to Ron and Harry before walking over to his siblings and Uther who did not look happy- though he never did. He let out a sigh of acceptance that his summer was not going to be as good as his school year and followed his family out of the station.

**AN: I do intend to go through all seven books. I have no idea how long this will take me or if I will be able to do it, but I will try. I am bringing Gaius in, and maybe another familiar face in the next book. **

**The sequel will be called Merlin at Hogwarts book 2. (I know, real original) There will be more about the other knights in this one, a little more about Quidditch- I've already said too much. Keep reading and please review.**

**I will give you a little teaser about what happens in the next book: The Purge is back, and Merlin is in the middle of it, dun, dun, DUN! **


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